Demanding an immediate rollback of the latest fuel and LPG price hike, the BRS has urged the Union Minister for Petroleum, Hardeep Singh Puri, to reduce the existing central excise duties and the cess on fuel prices. In a hard-hitting letter to the Union Minister, BRS working president KT Rama Rao asked for a detailed White Paper on fuel taxation, cess utilisation, and revenue sharing with the states. He also demanded a transparent price mechanism aligned to global crude trends to ensure consumers get the benefits of lower prices when international crude oil becomes cheaper.

In his letter, Rao took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s promised “acche din” and pointed out that the increase in excise duties on LPG cylinders will adversely impact the poor, middle class, and the states that are being stripped of their autonomy under the current regime. “Despite the decline in international crude oil prices, the benefits have not reached consumers. Why can’t the government show a little heart and spare the countrymen some relief when global oil markets tumble?” stated KT Rama Rao. He claimed that oil companies expect to recover Rs 9,000 crore in FY26 through this Rs 50 LPG hike. He pointed out that the Oil Marketing Companies’ stocks were soaring even when markets were bleeding.

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He also said that while the NDA had promised “minimum government and maximum governance,” what the country is witnessing instead is “maximum taxation and minimum relief”. Rao further said that under the current regime, “the poor are gasping, the middle class is exhausted, the youth are disillusioned and the states are financially strangled. It is time to stop hiding behind slogans and start delivering results. India deserves better.”