Crude politics
Daily revision of petrol and diesel prices has burdened the masses, who already have skyrocketing prices of food items, edible oils and other articles of daily use to contend with.
Even as the agrarian distress worsens, a hike in the prices of petrol and diesel by about Rs 5 per litre and Rs 7 per litre, respectively will aggravate the crisis, as there would be a cascading effect on people’s livelihood.
Globally, when crude prices were falling between 2014 and 2016, the government had raised the excise duty on petrol and diesel and earned about Rs 3 lakh