As petrol prices cross ₹100 mark, Modi says his government is sensitive to concerns of middle-class

On a day when petrol crossed the ₹100 mark, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said the middle-class would not have been burdened if the previous governments had focussed on reducing India’s energy import dependence.

Also read: ‘Retail fuel prices aligned with international prices’

Without referring to the relentless increase in retail fuel prices, which are linked to international rates, he said India imported over 85% of its oil needs in the 2019-20 financial year and nearly 53% of its gas requirement.

Also read: Data | For every Rs 100 spent on petrol by Indians, ₹63 goes to Centre and State as tax in Dec. 2020

“Can we be so import dependent? I don’t want to criticise anyone but I want to say (that) had we focussed on this subject earlier, our middle-class would not have been burdened,” he said at a function to inaugurate oil and gas projects in poll-bound Tamil Nadu.

Price of petrol crossed the ₹100 per litre mark in Rajasthan after fuel rates were hiked for the ninth day in a row. Since India imports majority of its oil needs, retail rates are benchmarked to international prices, which have spiralled in recent weeks.

Mr. Modi said his government is sensitive to concerns of the middle-class and so has focussed on raising share of ethanol mixing in petrol.

Ethanol extracted from sugarcane will help cut imports as well as give farmers alternate source of income.

Also read: Petrol, diesel prices at fresh highs; petrol crosses ₹87 mark in Delhi

India, he said, is looking to cut energy import dependence as well as diversify its sources to reduce risks.

The focus now is also towards using renewable sources of energy, which will by 2030 form 40% of energy generated in the country, he said.

Also, the government is working towards raising the share of natural gas in the energy basket to 15% from the current 6.3% and is committed to bringing it under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime to eliminate cascading effect of multiple taxes, he added.