Union Minister of Petroleum Hardeep Singh Puri said on Friday, 29 April, that India was willing to increase its import of crude oil from Russia if the terms of trade are right.
"We are situated close to gulf countries like Iran, which has a lot of oil. We have energy relations with Russia. We buy crude from them, but our total imports are not more than 0.2 percent. We are open to buying if terms are right," Puri was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
He also said that the Centre has taken responsibility with regard to the country's fuel sector, and urged states to do the same.
"Burden sharing need not be equal. The Center has assumed its responsibility in the fuel sector. States, too, should take onus," he added.
'BJP-Ruled States Charging Half VAT Compared to Non-BJP States'
The Union minister also said that the states ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) were charging half the amount of Value Added Tax (VAT) on fuel compared to the states ruled by the non-BJP parties.
"There's a difference of Rs 15-20 in retail prices of petrol between BJP and non-BJP states," Puri claimed, as per ANI.
He also said that the Centre was willing to bring petrol and diesel under the Goods and Service Tax (GST), but states were not willing to do the same.
"My understanding is that the center would be happy in bringing petrol and diesel under GST, but the fact of the matter is that states are not willing to do the same. They make a killing from revenues of fuel and alcohol," he said.
Puri added that when states face rising debt, they tend to blame others. "Punjab is a case in example," he said.
The minister also claimed that the hike in fuel prices under the Narendra Modi-led government was the lowest. "Fuel price hike under the Modi government is the lowest. It is 30 percent, and not 80 percent. Basic salaries have increased over the decade. Along with that, the government is giving free schemes to people under various categories."
PM Modi Blames Oppn on VAT
This comes amid a war of words between the Centre and Opposition-ruled states in the country regarding fuel prices.
Prime Minister Modi said on Wednesday that some states had refrained from reducing VAT despite the Centre's lowering of excise duty last year, and that the citizens of these states had been suffering "injustice" due to higher fuel prices.
"Due to some or the other reason, some states like Maharashtra, West Bengal, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Jharkhand did not slash VAT on fuel. The burden of high prices continued to stay on the citizens. I won't go into how much revenue these states gained during this time," the prime minister said.
He also added that in order to reduce the burden on the country's citizens, the central government had lowered the excise duty on petrol and diesel in November last year.
(With inputs from ANI.)
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