Petrol pumps in Delhi that sell Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) will remain closed for 23 hours from 6 am on Tuesday after protests were staged against the refusal of the Delhi government to added Value Added Tax on diesel and petrol.
The Delhi Petrol Dealers Association called the protest.
They said that customers were gathering in numbers in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana to purchase petrol and diesel where they were available at much cheaper rates.
“The price reduction in UP and Haryana has led to a decline in sale of petrol by 20% and diesel by 30% in Delhi till October 15. It is expected to further decline in the coming days,” said Nischal Singhania, the president of the Delhi Petrol Dealers Association, as quoted by NDTV.
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Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal nonetheless stated that there has to be some political reasons behind the strike.
On Sunday, he took to Twitter and he wrote, “Petrol pump owners have told us privately that this is a BJP-sponsored strike, actively supported by oil companies. In fact, the BJP has thrust it on petrol pump owners. People will give the BJP a befitting reply in the elections for continuously inconveniencing people through their dirty politics.”
Petrol prices in Delhi were reduced by 25 paise which fell down to Rs 81.74 per litre. The prices of diesel were reduced to Rs 75.19 per litre. The petrol prices across the major cities were-at Rs 87.21 per litre in Mumbai, Rs 83.58 per litre in Kolkata and Rs 84.96 in Chennai.
On October 4, the fuel prices reduced by Rs 2.50 keeping in mind the relief it would provide to the consumers and states. A slash of Rs 1.50 per litre was exercised in excise duty with the rest being absorbed by the oil marketing companies. The states would now have to take up the cut of Rs 2.50 per litre of petrol sold, as signified by the VAT cut.
Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Chattisgarh, Assam, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Tripura are some of the BJP-led states which, on the request of the centre declared the reductions in the price.
Kejriwal stated that the fuel costs were reduced by just Rs 2.50 on Sunday after the Modi-led government announced an increase of Rs 10 on the excise duty on fuel.
It is a sham. The centre should have at least reduced prices by Rs. 10 per litre,” his tweet read.
Image credit-New Indian Express