Tinsukia (Assam): Union Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Rameswar Teli in a media interaction on Monday, said that taxes on petroleum products funded free COVID-19 vaccines. The BJP LS MP even drew parallels between the rising price of petrol with that of packaged mineral water adding that the latter costs even more. The minister who visited Tinsukia for a BJP meeting went on to say that Assam is among those states that has the least VAT (value-added tax) on petrol.
Petrol and diesel prices were hiked across the country for the seventh consecutive day on Monday. Prices of petrol and diesel rose by Rs 0.30 (at Rs 104.44/litre) and Rs 0.35 (at Rs 93.17/litre) respectively in Delhi, while in Mumbai, petrol is priced at Rs 110.41/litre (up by Rs 0.29) and diesel by Rs 101.03/litre (up by Rs 0.37).
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"The price of petrol is not high, there is tax involved in it. The price of (packaged mineral) water is higher than that of fuel. The price of petrol is Rs 40, the Assam government imposes Rs 28 VAT, the petroleum Ministry imposes Rs 30, it becomes Rs 98. But if you drink Himalaya water, then the cost of a bottle is Rs.100. The cost of water is more, not of oil. Fuel prices aren't high but include the tax levied. You must've taken a free vaccine, where will the money come from? You haven't paid the money, this is how it was collected," Teli said, adding that money for the free vaccines comes from the taxes that the central government collects.
He further added saying that the petrol price is highest in Rajasthan as the state government has imposed maximum VAT on petrol and that it can be reduced if the taxation is lowered by the state's ruling dispensation.
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