New Delhi: Calling upon the NDA government to maintain the retail prices of petrol and diesel in sync with the international price of crude oil, the Congress has observed that the recent reduction of Rs 2 and Re 0.50ps per litre respectively for petrol and diesel has been inadequate. Briefing mediapersons, Congress spokesperson Ajay Maken said that last year when the NDA government entered office crude oil was selling at $ 108.05 per barrel and now the price is $46.88. ”This means that there has been a 56 percent decline in the crude oil price, so it is logical that retail prices of petrol and diesel should also be correspondingly reduced,” he said.
But he pointed out that the market friendly nature of this government is restricted only to the extent of favouring the big corporates and not the ordinary consumers. ”This attitude is reflected in the comparative retail price of diesel and petrol in Delhi. Between last year”s level of retail prices of petrol and diesel the reduction has been from Rs 71.41 to Rs 61.20 per litre and Rs 57.71 to Rs 44.45 per litre i.e only 14.29 percent and 21.6 percent respectively,” he stressed.
Demanding a corresponding 56 percent reduction in the retail prices of petrol and diesel, Maken said that without any delay the government should pass on the benefit of the market conditions to the consumers and petrol should be sold at Rs 30.99 per litre and diesel at Rs 24.61 per litre. ”After all in the event of the international crude oil prices going up the government will pass on the same burden to the consumers,” he added. Commenting on the inordinate rise in prices of onions and pulses, the Congress leader observed that the higher fuel prices that add to the burden of the higher freight costs are also responsible for this crisis facing the common man. “There is a direct link between retail prices and freight costs,” he added.
