VIJAYAWADA: Finding fault with the State government for not reducing the prices of petrol and diesel and blaming the Centre for collecting more cess on fuel, BJP political feedback department pramukh Lanka Dinakar said that the Centre was spending the money collected through cess on development and welfare programmes.
Andhra Pradesh collected Rs 11,014 crore as taxes on petrol and diesel in the 2020-21 fiscal, while Uttar Pradesh, which is four times bigger than AP collected only Rs 21,956 crore. AP stood top in South India in collecting taxes on petrol and diesel, he said.
The Centre informed Parliament that Rs 3.35 lakh crore revenue was generated on petrol and diesel. He said Rs 2,87,500 crore collected towards cess and surcharges was spent on roads, railways, ports, airports and other infrastructure projects.
Speaking to mediapersons here on Monday, Dinakar launched a broadside against Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy. The Centre slashed Rs 5 on a liter petrol and Rs 10 per liter diesel and several other state governments also reduced the fuel prices. However, the AP government, instead of taking measures to reduce the burden on the consumers, was trying to divert their attention by questioning the Centre for collecting cess and surcharges.
The Centre extended a helping hand to 80 crore people and distributed Rs 2.60 lakh worth rice, red gram, wheat and cash. It spent Rs 80,000 crore for administering Covid vaccination to the people. All these money was generated through cess and surcharges, he argued
TDP protest at fuel stations across State today
Urging Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy to fulfil his pre-election promise to make petrol and diesel prices in AP the lowest in the entire country, TDP cadre will stage protest demonstrations in all the fuel filling stations across the State for an hour from 12 noon to 1 p.m on Tuesday. Conducting a teleconference with leaders on Monday, TDP supremo and leader of opposition N Chandrababu Naidu said that the party cadres will reach the petrol bunks at 12 noon and keep on blowing the bike horns to expose the policies of the YSRC government. He alleged that the State government collected Rs 36 as Value Added Tax on a liter petrol and diesel.