A day after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that there will be no cut in excise duty on fuel as the previous UPA government had reduced fuel prices by issuing Oil Bonds of Rs 1.44 lakh crore, the Congress has hit back by saying that the government since 2014-15 has spent Rs 73,440 crore on servicing oil bonds and collected Rs 22.34 lakh crore through taxes on petroleum products.

Addressing a press conference at the party headquarters here on Tuesday, Congress leader and former union minister Ajay Maken said, “Official figures expose BJP’s oil bond falsehood. Since 2014-15 the Modi government has spent Rs 73,440 crore on servicing of oil bonds and against this, they have collected Rs 22.34 lakh crore through taxes on petroleum products.” Maken pointed out that spending on servicing of oil bonds is just 3.2 per cent of the tax collection from petroleum products.

He said that in the current fiscal also, the government has only a liability to pay Rs 20,000 crore in the form of bond repayment and interest on the outstanding oil bonds. At the present rates, the government is expected to collect Rs 5 lakh crore from taxes on petroleum products.

He said that the real reason is not oil bonds but the reduction in subsidy by 12 times and an increase in taxes by three times.

The former union minister said, “In 2020-21 alone, tax on petrol-diesel was Rs 4.53 lakh crore. It is three times more than 2013-14.” He said that the BJP raised central taxes on petrol and diesel by Rs 23.87 and Rs 28.37 per litre in the last seven years. He said that the government collected additional Rs 1.89 lakh crore every year.

Slamming the government for high taxation on fuel, Maken said, “Modi government has extorted Rs 22,33,868 crore by levying excise on petrol-diesel in the last seven years.”

Citing the official figures of petroleum planning and analysis cell, he said that during the UPA government, it gave subsidy on petroleum products to the tune of Rs 1.64 lakh crore in 2012-13 and Rs 1.47 lakh crore in 2013-14. “On the contrary, the present Modi government drastically reduced this amount year after year to Rs 12,231 crore in 2020-21,” he said.

Maken said, “Since the lockdown, the increase on excise duties on petrol and diesel has surpassed all forms of exploitation and extortion.” He said that on March 5 last year excise duty on petrol and diesel was increased by Rs 3 per litre. On May 5 last year, the government increased the excise duty on diesel by Rs 13 per litre and on petrol by Rs 10 per litre.

“In the last 15 months, the insensitive BJP government has raised petrol and diesel rates by Rs 32.25 and Rs 27.58 per litre respectively,” he said.

He demanded the government should immediately roll back the increase in excise duties, so as to bring those to the level of excise duties prevailing during the 2014-UPA government. “The excise duty of Rs 23.87 on petrol and Rs 28.37 on diesel should be reduced,” he said.