After the increase in the prices of petrol and diesel, Congress called PM Modi – ‘Inflation Man’; Warned ‘This is just the beginning’

PC: People’s Update

Congress on Tuesday launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over rising fuel prices. Calling him “inflation man”, the party said the government is systematically burdening the general public after the elections are over.

The opposition party alleged that the central government has started a pattern of steep hike in fuel prices to impose economic burden on common citizens. “‘Inflation Man’ Modi’s whip has come down on the public again. Petrol and diesel have been increased by 90 paise. Modi has increased the prices by Rs 4 in the last 4 days. With this hike, petrol in the country has reached Rs 109 and diesel at Rs 96. This is just the beginning. After the elections are over, the inflation man will charge even more.”

Fuel prices witnessed a sharp rise across the country as petrol and diesel rates were increased by an average of 90 paise per liter on Tuesday.

Fuel price hike: From Rs 3/litre to Rs 10/litre?

Earlier, the central government had increased the prices of petrol and diesel by Rs 3 per liter across the country on May 15.

With OMCs incurring losses, Dhaval Popat, energy analyst at Choice Institutional Equities, warns that further increases are needed to offset current losses. He says, “In the above background, if there is no change in the global scenario, and crude oil prices continue to rise, an overall increase of Rs 10/litre, including an increase of Rs 3/litre, will be required to compensate for the losses.”

Popat had earlier said, “Based on industry sales volumes, every INR1/litre increase in fuel prices could collectively improve the annual EBITDA of the three PSU OMCs by around INR15,000–16,000 crore, which means this new increase could benefit all OMCs by about INR45,000–48,000 crore annually. “Compared to the estimated loss of Rs lakh crore, the current increase compensates only a small part of the shortfall in earnings.”