Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Wednesday said that the central government was “sensitive” towards the price...
Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Wednesday said that the central government was “sensitive” towards the prices of petroleum products and was taking all possible steps to address the problem of rising fuel prices, reported PTI.
Addressing a press conference in Delhi, Puri said one of the measures taken by the government to mitigate the problem was mixing ethanol in fuel. He said that currently, about half the petrol sold in India had 10% ethanol. The government has planned to raise this to 20% for all petrol sold in the country.
The government’s initial deadline to increase the blending proportion to 20% was 2030. It has now been advanced to 2025, according to DNA.
Puri also suggested that state governments lower the prices of petrol and diesel. The minister was referring to Tamil Nadu, which on August 13 decided to reduce the price of petrol by Rs 3 per litre with a tax cut. Before the tax cut was announced, a litre of petrol in Chennai cost Rs 102.49.
“The Centre imposes an excise tax on petrol and diesel, while states impose VAT [Value-added Tax] on it,” the minister said. “We use this excise money to fund schemes like PM Garib Kalyan Yojana, under which 80...
