The Union Finance Minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, on Saturday stood by the oil marketing companies' (OMC) decision to hike petrol prices and hinted that the states were benefiting from the taxes levied on petroleum products.
Mr Mukherjee, while speaking on the sidelines of an event in the city, said: “OMCs have given adequate reasons of why they have to do it (hiking petrol prices).”
According to the Finance Minister, OMCs are “in red” and would not be able to import the crude oil required for the country. The annual crude oil requirement of the country is more than 106 million tonnes, of which the majority is imported.
Hinting that one third of the Central taxes levied on petroleum products are distributed among the states after devolution, he said the states' shares in Central taxes have gone up.
Mr Mukherjee, however, clarified: “I am not advising anything to the states.”
TMC's demand legitimate
According to Mr Mukherjee, the Trinamul Congress' concerns on petroleum price hike were legitimate.
“It is quite legitimate for any political party which is a constituent unit of the UPA (United Progressive Alliance) to express their concerns on any issue and to discuss with the Prime Minister. They have done exactly that. They have stated that after the PM comes back, they will take up some of their concerns. I do not find anything wrong in that,” he said.
The Trinamul Congress chief and West Bengal Chief Minister, Ms Mamata Banerjee, on Friday had indicated her party's displeasure at the petrol price hike and hinted at the possibility of withdrawing support to the Congress-led UPA-II Government. A final decision in this regard would, however, be taken following the Prime Minister's return.