New Delhi: Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Wednesday accused the previous UPA regime of a fuel price hike. He stated that Congress had left millions of crores of rupees dues to the present government, which the Centre has to pay both its interest and its price.
Speaking to reporters here today, the Union Minister, while responding to a question on protests by the Congress at various petrol pumps across the country against fuel price hike, said, "The economists have recently brought a point to the fore. The Congress, before 2014, had left a debt of lakhs of crores of rupees over oil bonds. Because of this reason, the interest and the principal have to be paid off by the current government. This is also a big reason for the increase in oil prices."
He further said, "There has been a rise in the prices of crude oil in the international market. To fulfill domestic needs, 80 percent of the oil has to be imported. This is the main reason for the rise in prices of petrol and diesel."
"I had admitted, previously, that the Central and the state governments are using taxes for welfare schemes, to provide employment, and to undertake development activities. There is nothing to hide in this," added Pradhan.
