‘Left has got it all wrong’
Justifying the government’s move to hike prices of petroleum products, Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia on Sunday said that it was better to use public money in building schools and hospitals rather than subsidising oil companies, which make huge profit out of grants given to them.
In an interview to a TV news channel, Mr Ahluwalia said: “The profits that have been shown in the oil companies are largely due to subsidies. We are not supposed to be subsidising the oil companies... We should be paying for schools, education, hospitals and so on.”
The Left parties, which spearheaded the Bharat bandh along with the BJP on July 5, had contended that at a time when the oil marketing companies were making huge profits, the government was still talking about under-recoveries.
Countering the Left argument, Mr Ahluwalia said: “I think the Left has got it wrong that these companies are making huge profits. These profits reflect the fact that a large subsidy is being paid to them.”
However, he agreed that there was significant tax burden on petrol and diesel. “You cannot eliminate a tax burden without recouping the revenue elsewhere. You could legitimately say — don’t tax petroleum, raise the same revenue by taxing everything else. Would anyone want that?” Mr Ahluwalia asked.
Post new comment