Indianexpress.com : comments : Not smooth

Not smooth

The disruption of Parliament over the fuel price hike was a mark not just of the lack of responsibility of the opposition, and even some UPA partners, but also of India’s unwillingness to face up to the tough challenge of energy reform. The Rs 4 and Rs 2 hikes announced respectively for petrol ....Read more

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Editorial- Not smoothBy: Premangsu Chowdry | Wednesday , 8 Jul '09 4:26:47 AM Reply | Forward Your comments are bold and timely; one hopes they will be acted upon by the authorities. High subsidies on oil has been for ages,a deliberate eye-wash which does not fool anyone any more; they must be cut down. Invisible indirect taxes in this sector also need strict control to give the needed transparency in this sector. Oil prices have to be hiked considerably more to bring a much needed awareness of overall economy in oil consumption. In the background of the rise in the per capita income until the recession,and the increasing craze for cars and its availability in the country, this becomes an added reason.The problem cannot be solved by a political ploy, but needs a broad consensus.

Editorial- Not smoothBy: Premangsu Chowdry | Monday , 6 Jul '09 13:02:34 PM Reply | Forward Your comments are bold and timely; one hopes they will be acted upon by the authorities. High subsidies on oil has been for ages,a deliberate eye-wash which does not fool anyone any more; they must be cut down. Invisible indirect taxes in this sector also need strict control to give the needed transparency in this sector. Oil prices have to be hiked considerably more to bring a much needed awareness of overall economy in oil consumption. In the background of the rise in the per capita income until the recession,and the increasing craze for cars and its availability in the country, this becomes an added reason.The problem cannot be solved by a political ploy, but needs a broad consensus.

DOORMAT MEDIABy: PKJ | Sunday , 5 Jul '09 16:45:08 PM Reply | Forward OK,HAS THIS GOVENMENT HAS NOT COME TO POWER ON AAM AADMI PLANK,SO WAT WRONG IF BJP OPPOSING THIS WHICH HURTS AAM AADMI??HAD YOU ALL MEDIA NOT CRITICIZE BJP FOR DECONTROL THE PRICE OF PETROLEUM PRODUCTS??HAS CONGRESS NOT OPPOSED ANY PRICE HIKE DURING BJP RULE????

Fuel prices rationalisationBy: Kishore Karnad | Sunday , 5 Jul '09 0:21:52 AM Reply | Forward SirIt is high time Indian government comes out with the process used to arrive at the final consumer prices of petrol. Why should fuel cost so much in India? Most Indians consume petrol out of necessity rather than luxury. Any comprehensive energy policy should aim at rationalising taxes; eliminating adultration; provision of affordable public transportation; and use of alternative energy sources like solar energy for street lighting. Fuel spent on VIP/ VVIP security also needs to be re-looked. Just increasing prices will be too short sighted and exploitative

When will BJP LearnBy: M S Srinivas | Saturday , 4 Jul '09 22:32:06 PM Reply | Forward When will BJP learn that it is this kind of irresponsible behaviour that has put paid to their ambitionos of coming back to power. It it that they are very keen to reduce their tally further in the 2014 elections

Petroleum productsBy: Vaid S C K | Saturday , 4 Jul '09 12:14:33 PM Reply | Forward Government has been misleading the people by publicising wrong facts. Since petroleum prices have all round effect on the economy, central government must evolve some reasonale taxing policy in consultation with state governments.

Lower taxes or is that asking too muchBy: Shekhar | Saturday , 4 Jul '09 10:17:41 AM Reply | Forward I am amazed when responsible editors and economic writers lament about the high subsidy on fuel while totally ignoring the fact that various central and state taxes add to more than 50% of the cost at the pump! I remember a story-when the Frech foreign minister met his Qatari counterpart and complained about the high cost of fuel the Qatari minister procalaimed that his country was ready to give oil to France for free in exchange all the French had to do was give Qatar back their taxes on petroleum. This story is applicable in our Indian context as well-high government taxes exacerbates an already bad situation, the PSU run losses and the government whines about the losses it has to bear while all the way laughing to the bank.