Govt collected over Rs 36 lakh crore from people through petroleum products in 5 years: Congress

'By imposing excessive taxes, duties and cess on petrol and diesel, the Modi government has looted lakhs and crores of rupees from the common people ... the government has collected more than Rs 36 lakh crore from people's pockets in the last 5 years,' Kharge said in a post on X.

New Delhi: The Congress accused the Centre on Wednesday of collecting more than Rs 36 lakh crore from people's pockets through petroleum products in the last five years.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge alleged that instead of increasing funds for welfare schemes, the Narendra Modi government has continuously reduced allocation by "manipulating data and tampering with facts".

"By imposing excessive taxes, duties and cess on petrol and diesel, the Modi government has looted lakhs and crores of rupees from the common people. According to the answer to a question asked in Parliament, the government has collected more than Rs 36 lakh crore from people's pockets in the last 5 years," Kharge said in a post on X.

"This government is an expert in closing down old schemes, sometimes changing the names of Congress schemes and calling them new and sometimes trying to garner accolades by changing the names of its own schemes repeatedly.

"We have already seen the state of infrastructure with the collapse of bridges, the collapse of airport roofs, cracks on highways and the leaking roof of the new Parliament," he said.

The Congress chief said international crude oil prices have fallen by 32 per cent since May 2014, but the government's "loot" on petrol and diesel continues.

"It seems as if the Modi government has taken a contract to loot the middle class," he alleged.

Congress general secretary and Rajya Sabha MP Randeep Singh Surjewala, who had asked the question in the Rajya Sabha on the amount of taxes collected by the government from petroleum products, said in a "sensational disclosure", the Centre has admitted in in Parliament that more than Rs 36 lakh crore were collected from the petroleum sector in the last five years.

"The 'dhol ki pol' of Modi government's loot has been exposed. Told in Parliament in response to my question -- by imposing taxes/cess/duties on the prices of petrol and diesel, the government has earned a total of Rs 36,58,354 crore in the last 5 years," he said in a post on X while sharing the Centre's written reply to his question in the Upper House.

"Read the figure once again, more than 36 lakh crore!!! From May 2014 till now, the price of crude oil has fallen by 32 per cent. Today's price is USD 73 per barrel.

"Due to this, today's price should be (Delhi) -- petrol Rs 64.44/litre, diesel Rs 59.61/litre.... But what is today's rate -- petrol - Rs 94.77/litre, diesel Rs 87.67/litre.

"The 'Dhritarashtra' Modi government is unable to see the backbreaking inflation," Surjewala said in his post on the microblogging platform.