Telugu Desam Party (TDP) national president N. Chadrababu Naidu has asked Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy to mount pressure on the Central government to cut down the prices of petrol and diesel immediately.
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In a statement on Monday, Mr. Naidu said that the governments across the world were providing concessions to improve the purchasing power of the business community and people amid the the economic crisis triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The recurrent hikes in petrol and diesel prices have delivered a blow on the people who are already reeling under the economic slowdown triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Mr. Naidu.
The rise in fuel prices is impacting the transport sector in the State. The diesel price has gone up by ₹ 8.88 per litre in the last fortnight and the same for petrol is ₹7.97 per litre. In addition, the State government has levied VAT of ₹2.76 per litre on diesel and ₹3.07 per litre on petrol.
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Cascading effect
“The increase in fuel price will put a burden of ₹3,893 crore on the transport sector alone. As a cascading effect, the prices of essential commodities will also go up. Further, the farmers gearing up for the kharif season will also face hardship if the prices of fuel are not brought down,” pointed out Mr. Naidu.
The TDP chief sought government intervention in bringing down the fuel prices, saying that it would provide the much-needed relief to people.