March 17, 2003
Press
Statement
The
Polit
Bureau
of
the
Communist
Party
of
India
(Marxist)
has
issued
the
following
statement:
Reverse
Hike
In
Petrol,
Diesel
Prices
The
steep
increase
announced
in
the
prices
of
petrol
and
diesel
is
unwarranted
and
will
push
up
the
prices
of
all
major
commodities.
The
increase
of
Rs.
1.50
per
litre
for
petrol
and
Re.
1
for
diesel
comes
soon
after
an
earlier
increase,
just
a
few
days
ago.
The
BJP-led
government
did
not
reduce
duties
on
petroleum
products
in
the
budget.
Instead,
it
imposed
a
road
cess
of
50
paise
per
litre
for
petrol
and
diesel,
on
the
basis
of
which
there
was
a
hike
of
Rs.
1.50
per
litre
for
both
fuels
on
March
1.
Thus,
the
two
successive
increases
are
not
related
only
to
the
increase
in
the
world
prices
of
oil
but
is
due
to
government
policy
of
heavily
taxing
petroleum
products.
The
Polit
Bureau
of
the
CPI(M)
demands
that
the
current
hike
in
prices
be
reversed
as
it
will
have
a
deleterious
effect
on
the
economy
and
the
prices
of
all
commodities.