Congress terms price reduction as a ploy to help oil firms and cautions of a hike after polls

The ruling Congress in Karnataka on Friday (March 27) termed the reduction in excise duty on petroleum fuel by the Centre as a mere “balance sheet management and convenient accounting” to help oil companies to profiteer by transferring their burden to the government and finally onto the people of India.

‘Election gimmick’

In a joint statement issued in Bengaluru on March 27, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar and AICC General Secretary in-charge of Karnataka Randeep S. Surjewala alleged that the BJP government at the Centre was readying to hike gas-diesel-petrol prices soon after the forthcoming elections to various State Assemblies.

“As the West Asia crisis looms large, Nayara Energy (formerly Essar) has hiked the price of petrol by ₹5.30 per litre and price of diesel by ₹3 per litre. This is a prelude to the imminent hike in prices of petrol-diesel-gas as the BJP government awaits the conclusion of the elections to five State Assemblies on April 9 and 23, 2026,” they maintained, adding the Centre is now only “trying to fool the people” by announcing reduction in excise duty.

Over 11 years

“Over the last 11 years, the Modi government has collected ₹43 lakh crore by taxing petrol and diesel. This comes to about ₹1,000 crore every single day since 2014,” they alleged.

“The price of petrol on May 26, 2014, during UPA rule was ₹71.41 per litre, while the price of diesel was ₹56.71 per litre. Now, petrol is selling at ₹102.96 per litre and diesel at ₹90.99 per litre in Bengaluru. Going by the crude oil prices in 2014 ($108 per barrel) and that before the war in West Asia ($70 per barrel), the price of petrol should be ₹61.60 per litre and diesel should be ₹56.99 per litre now. The rest is a sheer loot by the BJP,” the three leaders alleged.

“Similarly, the price of an LPG cylinder has increased from ₹412 in May 2014 to ₹913 in March 2026 — a rise of ₹501, which is 121.6% increase over 12 years. ⁠The international LPG price was approximately $880.5 per tonne in 2013‑14, and it is around $542.5 per tonne in March 2026, which is lower by $339, representing a drop of about 38.5% over this period,” they argued.