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The issue of rising fuel problems is a big issue in the world economy let alone the Indian economy. The prices have been steadily rising over the last decade. The price which was once Rs 30 plus per liter of petrol is now being sold at Rs 50 +. However, the state government taxes are the main culprits, says the Central Government. The Government, post budget faced a lot of criticism from the opposition and they were at a loss of words as to how the prices of fuel kept rising. This has been turned towards the state government taxes. The taxes are the reason for the high fuel prices. Nobody bothers about the end consumer who has to actually shell out the money to buy fuel, the bureaucrats and politicians all travel on fuel that is sponsored by the government. The government sponsors fuel for the air conditioners too which keeps running when the Netas are not in their cars. Some states impose a tax/VAT as high as 30%. (thirty percent is a very large number, considering the price of fuel to be fifty rupees, a tax alone of rupees fifteen is to be paid as tax for one liter, fifteen rupees is the cost of kerosene in a fair price shop). The revenue that the states earn will benefit from reimposition of Customs Duty on crude oil and the hike in the prices of petrol and diesel. The budget has imposed a 5% customs duty on crude oil and 7.5% duty on petrol and diesel. The excise duty has also been hiked by Re1 each for petrol and diesel. The present excise duty alone on petrol is 14.35 rupees per liter and for diesel it is Rs 4.60. Each state has its own way of deciding the price of petrol and applying the tax on it. Some of the states which apply a very high rate are the Left ruled West Bengal with 25% on petrol and 17% on diesel. Tamil Nadu has a rate of 30% on petrol and 21.5% for diesel. This affects the people at large. Petrol and diesel are the lifelines of the economy. It has to be kept in check that the prices of these two essential commodities do not go through the roof. It would be a very bad impact. It is now a consumer issue of gigantic proportions. It could get bigger and uglier if the government does not do anything about it. The steadily rising fuel prices are also giving rise to increased mal practices that are followed in filling stations. Some unscrupulous traders even adulterate the fuel and use faulty machines to seller lesser petrol. This is a bad thing. It affects the economy and compromises the purchasing power of the consumer. Earlier the difference of opinion between the state and the Central Government was only with respect to the aviation fuel; this has now crept into the general fuel section. It does not hold a very healthy trend if this is to continue.

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