Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Tuesday urged the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to reduce central excise on petrol and diesel to bring down fuel prices to provide much needed relief to farmers, transport sector and the common man, besides asking Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh to reduce State taxes on petrol and diesel.
Sukhbir, in a letter to the Prime Minister, urged him to direct the Petroleum Ministry to reduce central excise so that fuel prices could be reduced substantially. “The steep hike in petrol and diesel prices is resulting in a lot of hardship to farmers who are sowing their ‘kharif’ crop and have increased prices of essential commodities due to the increased cost of transport of goods across the country. The common man has also been adversely affected by the unprecedented hike,” he said.
Meanwhile, in a separate letter to the Chief Minister, SAD president requested him to reduce the State taxes on petrol and diesel to provide substantial relief to farmers, transport sector and the common man.
“The situation is such in Punjab that the State tax on petrol has gone up to as much as 27.27 percent even as the total State taxes on diesel constitutes 17.53 percent of its price,” he said.
Sukhbir said that the high quotient of State taxes on fuel had affected farmers the most, and the flight of migrant labour from Punjab had led to doubling of transplantation rates of paddy.