Hours after he slammed opposition rulled states for not reducing VAT on fuel prices, union minister Hardeep Singh Puri has now lashed out at them over air ticket prices.
Taking to Twitter, the minister wrote, "Ever wondered why air ticket prices haven’t come down? Aviation Turbine Fuel constitutes about 40% of the cost of airline operations. But West Bengal, Maharashtra & Delhi impose massive 25%+ VAT on ATF while BJP states UP & Nagaland; & UT of J&K charge just 1% (sic)."
"Such hypocrisy of opposition ruled states. PM Modi Ji ensures affordable air travel to common citizens with his vision of ‘हवाई चप्पल से हवाई जहाज़ तक’ but these states create impediments. They manufacture protests against ‘oil prices’ but fleece the people to fill their coffers (sic)," he added.
Earlier today Singh Puri questioned the Maharashtra government's decision to not reduce Value Added Tax (VAT) on fuel in order to provide relief to people.
Puri stressed his stand by highlighting that the State government is expected to collect Rs 33,000 crore as fuel taxes this year.
"The truth hurts, but facts speak for themselves. Maharashtra Government has collected Rs 79,412 crore as fuel taxes since 2018 and is expected to collect Rs 33,000 crore this year. (Adding up to a whopping Rs 1,12,757 crore). Why did it not reduce VAT on petrol and diesel to provide relief to people?," tweeted the Union Minister today.
This comes a day after Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray slammed the Centre by saying that the state government cannot be held responsible for the spike in fuel prices.
(With inputs from ANI)
