Congress slams hike in excise duty on diesel, petrol

Congress on Friday criticised government's decision to hike excise duty on diesel and petrol by Rs 2 per litre, saying it is "unjustified" and amounts to "fraud" with people.

"Instead of people getting the benefit of falling prices of crude oil in the international market, BJP-led NDA government is slapping them with extra excise duty. The hike is totally unjustified...It amounts to fraud with people," Congress Deputy Leader in Lok Sabha Amarinder Singh said in a statement.

He pointed out that crude oil prices have come down from 115 US$ per barrel in June to  US $50 per barrel, which means a fall of about 60 percent. Compared to that, he said, the NDA government had slashed the prices of petroleum products in India by less than ten per cent "which amount to fraud with the people". Government on Friday hiked excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 2 per litre each to take away gains coming by way of global oil prices dipping to six-year lows. Petrol price was also cut by Rs 2.42 per litre and diesel by Rs 2.25 a litre after an excise duty hike limited the benefit of global crude prices.