Fuel price hike: FM ‘invokes’ Nehru
NEW DELHI: Under attack from the opposition over increase in fuel prices, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman ‘invoked’ the country’s first prime minister Jawahar Lal Nehru to justify the hikes.
Sitharaman read Nehru’s speech from the 1950s in Hindi, where the former prime minister had blamed the Korean War for inflation in the country. She argued that if Nehru could blame war in Korea for the rise in prices in the 1950s, when India was not as well connected with the world as now, why would the Russia-Ukraine war not impact prices today.
The finance minister was responding to debates over the Finance Bill 2022 in Lok Sabha. The FM, however, hinted that the government has no role in increasing fuel prices and it is up to the oil marketing companies to decide the hike in price. She said that OMCs take a call on fuel price based on their 15-day average price.
After keeping prices of petrol and diesel on hold for four months, the fuel retailers have increased cumulatively Rs 2.40 in the country in the past one week. The price of petrol and diesel was on halt between 4 November 2021 and 21, March 2022 in the country despite high crude prices in the international market.
Responding to the discussion on the Finance Bill, the FM refuted the opposition allegation that the government is increasing the tax burden on the common man. Taking a dig at Congress, the FM said it was the Indira Gandhi government in 1970 that had increased the marginal income tax rate to 93.5%.
Meanwhile, on criticism that government is giving mixed signals on cryptocurrency, the finance minister said the matter is under discussion whether the government wants to regulate it or ban it. Once the consultation is over the government will make its stance clear.