New Delhi:Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, on Wednesday, came down heavily on the Centre over the rising fuel prices terming it as tax extortion. "Long-inconvenient queues for public transport aren’t just due to Covid restrictions. See the rates of petrol-diesel in your city to find out the real reason," Rahul tweeted, hashtagging 'TaxExtortion'.
Petrol prices were last hiked on June 26, which is the 30th increase in prices since May 4, when state-owned oil firms ended an 18-day hiatus in rate revision they observed during assembly elections in states like West Bengal.
In 30 hikes, the price of petrol has risen by Rs 7.71 per litre and diesel by Rs 8.12 a litre. Oil companies too had revised rates of petrol and diesel daily based on the average price of benchmark fuel in the international market and foreign exchange rates.
In Delhi, petrol hit an all-time high of Rs 98.11 a litre, while diesel is now priced at Rs 88.65 per litre. Fuel prices differ from state to state depending on the incidence of local taxes such as value-added tax (VAT) and freight charges.
While petrol has crossed Rs 100 a-litre mark in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Jammu and Kashmir, Odisha, and Ladakh, several towns in Tamil Nadu including Salem, Vellore and Cuddalore too witnessed a steep price hike.