High petrol prices in India due to Hurricane Harvey, says BJP minister Dharmendra Pradhan

Union Minister of the Petroleum and Natural Gas, Dharmendra Pradhan on Saturday said that the rates of the fuel will come down in the next few days.

"Fuel prices have gone up recently due to the hurricane in the US. As the prices reduce in the international market, they will come down here also," said Pradhan.

Due to the recent hurricane, the rates of fuel have gone up and the prices have already started to come down in the last three days. Since last 20 years, the prices of the petrol and diesel had been linked to the market.

On commenting the taxes on petroleum products, Pradhan said that taxes can’t be slashed as funds are necessary for infrastructure development and welfare schemes.

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"Don't you need good roads? Don't you need pure drinking water? Don't you need the good education for your children? Dono haath main laddu Nahi ho sakte (You cannot have laddus in both your hands)," Pradhan said.

In the democratic country, all the welfare schemes are funded by the taxes of the people. This is not the new concept, the government earned most part of the revenue through taxes and it all spent on the welfare schemes, he added.

Soon the petroleum products will come under the ambit of the Goods and Service Tax (GST), Pradhan expressed hope.

"We have brought GST with the consensus of all states. I am hopeful that petroleum products will also come under GST soon," he said. 

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