Chandigarh, May 16 (IANS) To ensure that the increased fuel prices do not impose any additional financial burden on the people of Punjab, the state government should follow the example of the BJP-led Central government, which on March 27 reduced taxes by Rs 10 per litre and absorbed the burden of rising fuel prices, the state unit of the BJP said on Saturday.

BJP General Secretary Anil Sarin, while addressing the media in the presence of the party’s state media head Vineet Joshi, said that similarly, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann should also absorb the increased burden of Rs 3 per litre on petrol and diesel by reducing state taxes, so that farmers and the common people do not suffer additional economic hardship during this crucial sowing season.

Sarin said that despite the Russia-Ukraine war and other international factors, the BJP-led Central government did not increase the prices of petrol and diesel for over four years from April 2022.

He said that on the other hand, after March 2022, the so-called Aam Aadmi Party government in Punjab increased state taxes on petrol and diesel, thereby imposing an additional burden of nearly Rs 3 per litre on the common man.

Sareen further said that due to the prevailing war-like situation, crude oil prices have risen from around $70 per barrel to nearly $120-130 per barrel.

As a result, fuel prices have increased by nearly 50 per cent in the United States, 20 per cent in Europe, 60 per cent in Pakistan, and 16 per cent in Bangladesh. In contrast, fuel prices in India have increased by only around 3 per cent.

He urged Chief Minister Mann to follow the example of the Central government by reducing state taxes and absorbing the burden of the Rs 3 per litre increase, thereby providing relief to the common people.

–IANS

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