As petrol price crosses Rs 100; PM Modi blames previous governments

Srinagar, Feb 17: As retail petrol prices breached the Rs 100-mark for the first time in India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today blamed former governments for ‘putting India’s dependence high on energy import.’

Government’s taxes make a major part of the fuel prices in India. Excise duty and VAT constitute almost 63 per cent of the price of petrol and 60 per cent for diesel, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan told Parliament earlier this month.

Addressing an online event to inaugurate oil and gas projects in Tamil Nadu, PM Modi said that ‘India had the capacity to become self-reliant in the energy sector but this subject should have been touched up by the government of past already.’

“Can a diverse and talented nation like ours be so energy import-dependent?” PM Modi said. “I do not want to criticise anyone but I want to say (that) had we focused on this subject much earlier, our middle-class would not be burdened,” he said.

While referring that India imported over 85 per cent of its oil needs in the 2019-20 financial year and 53 per cent of its gas requirement, Prime Minister said India is looking to reduce energy import dependence through capacity building.

Petrol and diesel prices have increased 19 times in 2021 with the two auto fuels increasing by Rs 5.28 and Rs 5.48 per litre respectively so far this year.