Express News Service By

CHENNAI:Condemning the steep increase in the prices of petrol and diesel, AIADMK general secretary J Jayalalithaa on Friday urged the Centre to immediately roll back the hike and change the current policy of fixing prices for petroleum products. The Centre was also asked to withdraw the powers given to oil companies to fix fuel prices.

Stating that the oil marketing companies had effected this hike based on the increase in the prices of fuels in the international market and due to the downfall of rupee value against US dollar, Jayalalithaa said “the value of rupee has gone down because foreign investors had withdrawn a part of their investments made in the debt market and share market due to issues related to levying of minimum alternate tax (MAT).”

In a statement here, she further said the rising distrust among foreign investors about the taxation policies of the Central government was the sole reason for the depreciation of the rupee last month. “I have been pointing out that Foreign Direct Investments have to be encouraged and that the Portfolio Investments of foreign companies won’t favour the economic growth of the country”, she added.

The AIADMK supremo observed that rupee value varied depending upon the economic, fiscal and taxation policies of the Central government as well as the views of foreign countries about Indian economy besides the extent of investments being made by companies from abroad.

“As such, Central government’s policies are the prime factors which sustains the value of rupee. The whole responsibility in this regard lies with the Central government. In this situation, increasing the fuel price based on the rupee value is unacceptable”, Jayalalithaa added.

The AIADMK supremo also pointed out that when crude prices in the international market came down, the BJP government had not passed on its full benefit to the consumers. Instead, it had hiked the excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 7.75 and Rs 6.50 respectively since November last year.

She said the hike in fuel prices would have a cascading impact on the prices of all commodities ultimately hitting the poor and downtrodden people. It would also cause inflation.

Reiterating her view that the fuel price fixation policy should be changed, Jayalalithaa said it would be appropriate to determine the prices of petrol and diesel based on international crude prices rather than the prices of these fuels in the global market.