The Bharatiya Janata Party has demanded immediate roll-back of the dual price mechanism in diesel prices. Condemning the Government’s decision, the principal Opposition party said it has put an unprecedented burden on the common man.
He said city bus services and other public utilities will also be hit by the move, party’s spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said.
He said while the customers on retail outlets will be paying Rs 50 to Rs 54 a litre, the bulk users have been forced to pay Rs 62 to Rs 65 a litre.
Javadekar said the State transport corporations will have to shell Rs 3,000 crore additionally due to this decision by the Centre. “Likewise, the Railways will have to bear the brunt to the extent of Rs 3,000 crore as well,” he added.
“The private industries and other business establishments will be paying Rs 6,000 crore more annually. Thus, in one stroke the Government has imposed a burden of about Rs 18,000 crore through the new category called bulk purchasers,” he said.
He said the Government has declared even the fishermen as bulk users. “With the new rules of dispensing of diesel to the consumers, even the farmers will be forced to pay the price of bulk diesel,” the Rajya Sabha MP said.
jigeesh.am@thehindu.co.in