“When I booked a cooking gas cylinder yesterday, the bill generated was for ₹922, but I had to pay ₹972 to the delivery boy today. A steep hike of ₹50 overnight in the price of LPG will force many lower middle class home makers to rework their kitchen budgets,” said an exasperated Sandeepthi Vallika, a home maker from Satyanaryanapuram in the city.
Besides a steep hike in cooking gas price in one go, the increase in the retail price of petrol and diesel by 88 paise and 84 paise respectively saw fuel buyers shelling extra to refill their tanks. In the Narayana Prasad petrol outlet in Autonagar, a litre of diesel cost ₹96.87 while petrol sold for ₹110.79 per liter, on Tuesday.
The increase in retail fuel prices comes for the first time since November and has remained unchanged for the most prolonged duration since the daily revision of prices began in June 2017.
“In last seven years, the cost of LPG has gone up from around ₹300 to almost ₹1,000. It is a backward march as people in the lower strata are forced to go back to the earthen chulhas for cooking,” said Communist Party of India (Marxist) State leader Ch. Babu Rao.
Mr. Babu Rao launched a scathing attack on the Narendra Modi government at the Centre saying that while on the one hand, the government claimed that price control mechanism was not in its hands, while on the other, it kept on hold the price-hike till the completion of the Assembly elections in five States.
Petrol is a necessity today and this hike is effecting large sections of people, he said, adding, “Many women in the lower income groups have started walking to their work place as they cannot afford to spend such big money on fuel.”
The price hike is bound to have a cascading impact. The agriculture sector will suffer as small and tenant farmers rely on diesel pumpsets to irrigate their crops. The outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic and the tax burden has compounded the woes of the common man, he said.
The automobile sector is already in doldrums. “Many autorickshaw owners have sold their vehicles and started selling fruits and vegetables or joined as watchmen at construction sites for a living, as the prices of petrol skyrocket,” said K. Durga Rao, general secretary of Vijayawada City Auto Workers’ Union.
“COVID had widened the gap between the haves and the have-nots. The government is adding to the woes of the poorer sections by resorting to policies that have a direct impact on these sections,” said State secretary of the AP chapter of All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) Rama Devi.
Members of the AP Lorry Owners’ Association express fear that “this is just the beginning of the problem”. Citing heavy taxation policies of the Centre and the State government, they have been appealing for a roll back.
The State government collecting 22.25 % VAT on diesel and 33 % on petrol besides ₹4 additional tax per liteer and ₹1 towards road development cess has only added to the financial burden on the common man, they contend.
