Union Minister Says Free COVID-19 Vaccines For Everyone Behind Rising Fuel Prices

Union minister of state for petroleum and natural gas Rameswar Teli has courted controversy for explaining the reason behind the rising fuel prices in India.

According to Teli, the government had to make money back after providing free COVID-19 vaccines to parts of the population.

What he said?

¡°Fuel prices aren¡¯t high but include the tax levied. You must¡¯ve taken a free vaccine, where will the money come from? You haven¡¯t paid the money, this is how it was collected,¡± he said in Assamese.

Union minister of state for petroleum and natural gas Rameswar Teli

¡°Our government has aimed to vaccinate 130 crore people of the country at free of cost. The price of each vaccine is around Rs 1,200 and each person will be vaccinated two doses,¡± Teli said.

¡°The cost of one-litre petrol is Rs 40. The Centre and states have imposed taxes on petrol. Assam is the only state in the country that has imposed the least VAT [value-added tax], and the state has imposed Rs 28 as VAT on petrol. Our ministry has imposed Rs 30 as tax,¡± he said.

The minister also said that the cost of Himalaya water bottles is higher than the cost of fuel. ¡°¡­if you drink Himalaya water, then the cost of a bottle is Rs.100. The cost of water is more, not of oil,¡± Teli said.

PTI

The opposition has hit out at Teli for trying to use the COVID-19 vaccination drive to justify the high fuel prices.

Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah said on Twitter, ¡°It would have been cheaper for all of us if you¡¯d just charged us for the vaccines instead of recouping the cost of the vaccines through fuel price hikes.¡±

Petrol and diesel prices are continuing their upward trend, crossing the Rs 100-mark in major cities across the country.

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