<p><strong>To understand the rising fuel prices, one needs to understand the factors contributing to their hike. Petrol and diesel are decontrolled fuels in India which means their prices are linked to global crude oil prices.</strong></p> <p><br /><strong>Decontrolling oil prices has never favoured consumers. When the global prices increase, the consumer has to pay extra for every litre of fuel and when the prices decrease, both the central government and state government levies extra taxes to get extra revenue.</strong></p> <p><strong>The Central and state governments levy excise tax and the centre has changed these taxes in such a way that they get a larger share than the state governments.</strong></p> <p><br /><strong>The petrol prices are calculated by adding VAT( collected by the state government)+ Excise duty (collected by the central government). Sixty per cent of the retail selling price of petrol and over fifty-four per cent for diesel accounts for both central and state taxes.</strong></p> <p><strong>Since the central government get a larger share of taxes, the state government has no option but to levy their own taxes on fuel and thus, making them charge extra state excise tax from the consumers. The cartelisation by state-run oil marketing companies like Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum also affect the fuel prices in our country.</strong></p> <p><strong>Petrol and diesel prices in India have surpassed the Rs 100 mark in many states and the common man is the one suffering the most. Dharmendra Pradhan (the Union Petroleum and Natural Gas and Steel Minister) blamed the price hike on oil-rich nations seeking more profits by manufacturing less fuel to gain more profits.</strong></p> <p><strong>He justified the taxes by mentioning how both the central government and state governments are undertaking various projects and making developments in the wake of Covid-19 which will further increase employment too. He also added that the expenditure of the health sector has also increased and thus, earnings are less.</strong></p>

<p> </p> <p><strong>Punjab is facing an extreme shortage of electricity just when the temperatures are rising and paddy plantation is at its peak. Even the agricultural sector isn’t getting its promised eight hours of power supply and on top of it, PSPCL imposed a two-day mandatory cut on high-consumption industries to divert power for crops and the domestic sector. The timings of government offices have been reduced to 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. and they can’t use air conditioners too due to the shortage of electricity. These strict regulations helped in bringing down the demand to 12.600 MW but the downside included expensive labour having to sit idle.</strong></p> <p> </p> <p><strong>The demand for power has touched 14,225 MW but only 12,800 MW can be supplied and this gap of 1,425 MW has led to power cuts lasting up to 14 hours in households. Farmers, domestic consumers, and industrialists are now complaining how this is the last thing they wanted considering they have already suffered due to the pandemic.</strong></p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Every year Punjab records an increase in demand by about 500 MW and in 2020, it was 13,150 MW. PSPCL didn’t predict the demand of 14,500 MW, thus leading to a shortage. The state government decided to shut down two units of thermal plant in Ropar and a thermal plant in Bathinda with a combined capacity of 880 MW and no alternatives have been approved. A private power unit, the TSPL Power Plant at Talwandi Sabo which supplied 660MW has been shut since March 8 because of faulty Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs).</strong></p> <p> </p> <p><strong>On top of it all, PSPCL is facing a shortage of funds. The government owes it Rs 5,000 crore on account of agriculture subsidy while the government offices owe Rs 2,000 crore to the PSPCL. Even though during a recent power review meeting, CM Amrinder Singh directed the department of finance to release Rs 500 crore for purchasing power, the state’s transmission capacity is only 13,000 MW and the Punjab State Transmission Corporation Limited (PSTCL) can be blamed for not upgrading the capacity of 400/220 KV transmission lines and ICTs.</strong></p> <p> </p> <p><strong>The current government lacks proper planning. The government has not been appointing a regular CMD of PSTCL since 2010. The CMD of PSPCL holds the charge of other offices like excise and taxation and is thus, overburdened. Also, dependence on private power plants has significantly increased.</strong></p> <p><strong>According to PSPCL’s CMD A Venu Prasad, the failure of the Talwandi Sabo power plant, the hailstorm between June 10 and 15, and the diminishing water level can be attributed to the power shortage.</strong></p>