[discoverwild]

Originally Posted by Sanjunair5

Just curious - isn't it unlawful for a minister to make such blatant lies?

Who's to question them? The media? The Judiciary? You know that they have openly lied to the Judiciary on many issues as well. As long as we have a pliant media and a submissive Judiciary, this is what we will get.

[firstguri]

Originally Posted by Sanjunair5

Just curious - isn't it unlawful for a minister to make such blatant lies?

Exactly my thoughts! How can the finance minister just give out statements with such blatant lies!

The way I see it is that the government is trying to make up for the losses during the pandemic with collection from excise duty on fuel and then playing politics over it.

The first oil bonds were issued during Vajpayee's government in 2002 and it's maturity came during UPA 2 tenure. The UPA never cribbed over it; of course they issued more bonds during their time as well and the current government is issuing bonds on food subsidy. So every government has been doing it since 20 years. Rather than to shift blame on previous government they should try to manage the situation better and not try to fool us by saying nonsensical things!

[shortbread]

Originally Posted by yesyeswe

I filled it for 109/- in Rajasthan yesterday, I win you lose! *while actually crying inside*
I have booked a Ola scooter recently and will soon install solar panels on my roof, only electric vehicles can give some relief now.

Very smart move indeed, create your own fuel. Although not everyone lives in detached or semi-detached housing.

But, If one has the ability to install solar panels then definitely go for it. Makes more sense to downsize the next automotive purchase and use the savings to invest towards a solar roof top. It may not be the coolest or proudest purchase one could make, but it would be the wisest.

[airbus]

Bengaluru rates today:

Petrol: ₹105.25

Diesel: ₹95.05

[anb]

Originally Posted by SLK

All of this is only political propaganda that you hear. If fuel vs development of vanity projects was concerned - I would choose these construction projects, they create employment, fuel doesn't!

Then there shouldn’t be any tolls for these projects. We pay Rs 18 as road infrastructure cess for a litre of petrol and diesel and again we pay toll for the same purpose.

[Lalvaz]

Originally Posted by AZT

Good breakdown and analysis. It's a long read if anyone's interested.

What’s the Real Story Behind High Petrol and Diesel Prices?

https://vivekkaul.com/2021/07/14/wha...diesel-prices/

Very detailed analysis. Thanks for sharing.

Bottomline: The govt (both central and states) need funds, and are addicted to the taxes on fuel. In the light of reduced corporate taxes, and lower GST collections due to the pandemic, and the other expenses of vaccination, etc brought about by the pandemic, they are in no position to reduce taxes.

Sad state of affairs, but I guess there's nothing that can be done to change things, So, we just have to grin and bear it.

[avishar]

Just as an added discussion point.



Govt set to overshoot FY22 tax collection target as Q1 mop-up reaches ₹5.6 lakh cr: Icra


With the first quarter gross tax mop-up reaching ₹5.6 lakh crore, Icra Ratings on Friday said the government is set to exceed the budgeted tax collection target of ₹22.2 lakh crore for 2021-22, led by indirect taxes.

The government has budgeted a modest 9.5 per cent growth in tax collections at ₹22.2 lakh crore for FY22, over FY21 collections of ₹20.2 lakh crore.

However, despite the second wave of the pandemic, the April-June quarter tax collections rose to ₹5.6 lakh crore, which is 39 per cent higher than Q1 of FY20. As stated differently, this is 107 per cent more than Q1 of FY21 and 25.1 per cent of the full-year target, according to an analysis by Icra.

She further said while corporation tax, personal income tax and Central GST receipts in Q1 stood at 21-22 per cent of the budget estimates, excise and customs collections already crossed 30 per cent of the budget estimate, boosted by the high taxes on fuels as well as a relatively faster recovery in international trade.

Additionally, GST compensation cess mop-up touched ₹24,600 crore in Q1 or nearly 25 per cent of the budget estimate. This also suggests that the full-year collections may exceed the budget estimate of ₹1 lakh crore, helping ease the concerns over GST compensations to the states through the grants route, Nayar said.

“Given these numbers, our calculations suggest that the FY22 budget estimate for gross tax revenue of ₹22.2 lakh crore can easily be crossed, even if there is a 5 per cent contraction in the next three quarters, which appears unlikely despite the lingering uncertainty on growth.


“In absolute terms, even if gross tax collection in the next three quarters falls short of Q1 numbers by a considerable ₹95,000 crore, the budgetary target for the full year will not be missed," Nayar noted.

The healthy Q1 tax mop-up suggests that “there is some space to reduce the cesses on petrol and diesel, which will boost consumption sentiment on one hand and ease the inflationary pressures on the other, she said, adding “this would allow monetary policy normalisation to be postponed, in a bid to continue to support economic activity in an uncertain growth environment".She further said while corporation tax, personal income tax and Central GST receipts in Q1 stood at 21-22 per cent of the budget estimates, excise and customs collections already crossed 30 per cent of the budget estimate, boosted by the high taxes on fuels as well as a relatively faster recovery in international trade.

Additionally, GST compensation cess mop-up touched ₹24,600 crore in Q1 or nearly 25 per cent of the budget estimate. This also suggests that the full-year collections may exceed the budget estimate of ₹1 lakh crore, helping ease the concerns over GST compensations to the states through the grants route, Nayar said.

“Given these numbers, our calculations suggest that the FY22 budget estimate for gross tax revenue of ₹22.2 lakh crore can easily be crossed, even if there is a 5 per cent contraction in the next three quarters, which appears unlikely despite the lingering uncertainty on growth.

[ValarMorghulis]

Phew! The political chatter in this thread is off the charts. Here is another nice article on fuel prices and bonds etc. Link here.

To summarize:

In the current financial year, the government is expected to pay close to 8 lakh crores in settling interest payments alone. This isn’t interest paid on oil bonds. This is interest the government is obligated to pay on every kind of borrowing. So it’s a bit difficult to argue that the 10,000 crore payment on oil bonds is what’s really stretching the government’s coffers. More importantly, the government made 3.45 lakh crores from excise duty on petrol and diesel during the last financial year. That’s roughly 34 times the interest the government paid on oil bonds during the same period.

So while it is true that these oil bonds aren’t pleasant to deal with, there’s a whole host of other reasons why the government cannot cut taxes right now. GST collections have been subpar. Covid has forced the government to borrow beyond its means. The government has had a horrid time trying to sell its prized assets. And they simply don’t have a lot of money to spare right now.

So if somebody tells you that fuel prices are at a record high right now because of oil bonds, tell them that it’s a lot more complicated than that. Tell them there are multiple factors at play here and to reduce this complex equation to a single variable is a bit of a disservice really.

[carboy]

Originally Posted by Lalvaz

The govt (both central and states) need funds, and are addicted to the taxes on fuel. In the light of reduced corporate taxes, and lower GST collections due to the pandemic, and the other expenses of vaccination, etc brought about by the pandemic, they are in no position to reduce taxes.

2 things

- You can't really blame the states here. Most states haven't really increased the State tax on Fuel. As a matter of fact, some of them have reduced it.

- You can't really pin the increase in Fuel Taxes on the pandemic. Increase of fuel taxes started around 7 years back. In the first 3 years itself, Fuel Taxes were raised 10+ times. You can go back & check this same thread from 2014-2017.

[Lalvaz]

Originally Posted by carboy

2 things

- You can't really blame the states here. Most states haven't really increased the State tax on Fuel. As a matter of fact, some of them have reduced it.

- You can't really pin the increase in Fuel Taxes on the pandemic. Increase of fuel taxes started around 7 years back. In the first 3 years itself, Fuel Taxes were raised 10+ times. You can go back & check this same thread from 2014-2017.

A large percentage of the price of fuel is state taxes too. Since we're both from Maharashtra, lets see state govt taxation in Maharashtra in the last 5 years.

In 2015, state govt imposed Rs2 per liter as drought cess on petrol & diesel.
In 2016, they increased taxes on petrol by Rs1 per liter.
In April 2017, they increased taxes on petrol by Rs3 per liter.
In May 2017, they increased additional tax of Rs2 per liter due to reduced income from alcohol sales

Drought was over in 2016, and liquor shops on highways reopened in 2018, but the taxes are still there.

In March 2020, they increased taxes on petrol and diesel by Rs1 per liter
In June 2020, they increased taxes by Rs 2 per liter.

[wildsdi5530]

So among other things, fueled up in Shell today. (Other bunks in the area were not very good) and was running low on fuel.
Only V-power was available at 120/L. Normal petrol was 111/L but not available.
Attaching total bill for creating a memory of the first time I crossed 4K for a full tank. Funnily I crossed 3K per full tank only a few months ago. When I bought this car, full tank was about 1.2K. How times have changed.

[dailydriver]

Source: Inshorts

x x x x x

1. The present problem is an inheritance from the previous regime.
   Thanks for the enlightenment sir. Can we please shift our focus from history to economics please.
   
   
2. Prices will get reduced once a litre of petrol starts containing less of petrol (20% ethanol blend).
   We have got used to being shortchanged repeatedly. This is just one more addition. We will grin and bear it.
   
   
3. Government is sensitive to the issue of price rise.
   Unfortunately, so are our cars.
   
   But then, with your plans of retiring all our motor gaadis to the junkyard, you do perhaps want our engines to get sogged with 20% of whatever, suffer and then give up at the earliest.
   
   Congratulations! You are on the right path.
   
   
4. State Governments can reduce prices if they want to.
   
   

[warrioraks]

Pretty much like floating loan interest rates, the fuel prices in our country now go only in one direction

Global oil prices plunge $10 a barrel this month but little change in domestic prices

https://m.economictimes.com/industry...w/85457627.cms

[IamNikhil]

Petrol rates in Mumbai have been stagnant in the 107-107.40 bracket for a while now. Haven't dared to do a full tank top-up yet though. Psychological barrier

[carboy]

Originally Posted by Lalvaz

A large percentage of the price of fuel is state taxes too. Since we're both from Maharashtra, lets see state govt taxation in Maharashtra in the last 5 years.

Note what I said - "Most states haven't really increased the State tax on Fuel. As a matter of fact, some of them have reduced it." Yes, Maharashtra did increase fuel taxes during 2014-2020. However, that's not the case with most state govts. Some have even decreased it. TN under the previous govt also increased it but the new Govt has decreased it partially now.