Bhubaneswar: Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan Sunday admitted high petrol and diesel prices were hurting the people, but took comfort in the knowledge that raised taxes had led to higher revenue which in turn has benefitted the poor.
Speaking at a public event in the city, Pradhan said the government had never hidden anything. “When international oil prices dipped, we passed half of the benefit to the consumers and half of it we saved as revenue. After the 14th Finance Commission, under the NDA government the allocation to Odisha overall and in areas like railways has increased manifold.”
He added that the revenue collected from the taxes on petrol and diesel was used to give the poor free gas connections and electricity to every village. He also accused the UPA government of having passed on an economy with double digit inflation to the NDA.
However, Pradhan accepted that higher prices are hurting people but said it could be attributed to global reasons adding that 80 per cent of the country’s requirement of oil is imported. “This is our liability. In the last 60 years hardly has anything changed in this regard and we are still dependent on imported oil,” he said.
The minister said that there were three reasons why petrol prices are remaining higher in the state namely—tax management, import dependency and falling rupee price against the American dollar. “If all the factors do not work together the consumers are likely to get hurt. Sanctions on Iran can also cascade the problem. I think after a few days, improvement could be expected,” he said.
The minister told the gathering that international relations also affect import of oil to India. He said, “Iran and America’s bilateral relations affect India’s oil import. Issues in Libya affect India’s oil basket. Non-production of oil in Russia and Saudi also affect India’s oil dependency. Many such countries who had committed oil supply in the market in June have gone back on their word.”