Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri on Monday said that nine states have not reduced VAT on petrol and diesel after the Centre's move to reduce excise on the petroleum products.
"When we saw that relief needs to be provided to consumers, Prime Minister slashed rates on November 5, 2021. We took some steps and were ready to take more. Nine states did not do it. Taxation is only one aspect. We have to provide relief to consumers at the point of consumption," the minister said answering a query in Rajya Sabha on the prices of petroleum products.
Comparing the rise in petrol prices, he said it has been much more in the countries like USA, Canada and Sri Lanka.
"I have the comparative data for the USA, Canada, Germany, UK, France, Spain, Sri Lanka and India. In all those countries, the price of petrol during this representative period has gone up by 50 per cent, 55 per cent, 58 per cent and 55 per cent. In India, it has gone up only by 5 per cent," he said.
The minister said that the government will explore all possible options to meet the country's energy demand in view of the Ukraine crisis and COVID-19 pandemic.
He said conversations had taken place at an appropriate level of the Russian Federation and discussions were underway.
( With inputs from ANI )
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