Cong flays Centre over 'unabated' fuel price hikes, dubs it 'extortion'

New Delhi, March 30 (IANS) The Congress on Wednesday slammed the Centre over "unabated" hike in fuel prices and termed it "extortion" by the Modi government.

Taking to twitter, party General Secretary Randeep Surjewala said: "Daily attack..
Daily extortion..Daily exploitation..by Modi Govt on common man's budget continues unabated!"

"The 8th increase has taken the #PetrolDieselPriceHike today to 5.60/litre. Is there an end date to this "loot"? Is PM unaccountable to people? Is there an answer?" he added.

This morning, the domestic retail selling prices of petrol and diesel were increased for the eighth time in nine days.

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said: "Who told the BJP that drip torture is more saleable to the public than the guillotine?"

Till last Tuesday, fuel prices were steady since November 2021 when the Centre reduced excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 5 and Rs 10 per litre, respectively.

Oil Marketing Companies(OMCs) revise the transportation fuel cost based on various factors such as rupee to US dollar exchange rate, cost of crude oil and demand of fuel amongst others.

Resultantly, the final price includes excise duty, value added tax and dealer's commission.

It was widely expected that the OMCs will revise the current prices due to high crude oil cost.

Lately, crude oil prices have been volatile on fears of tight supplies due to sanctions against Russia.

The crude oil price range is a cause of concern for India as it may ultimately add Rs 10-15 in petrol and diesel selling prices.

Currently, India imports nearly 85 per cent of its crude oil requirements.