Nirmala Sitharaman attacks Congress over Karnataka govt's hike in cess on petroleum products

New Delhi: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday took a swipe at Congress and said that its leaders should first ask why Karnataka Government hiked cess on petrol and diesel recently.

Replying to a debate on Finance Bill (No.2), 2024 in the Lok Sabha, the Union Finance Minister said that the Congress members should ask their party ruled Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh to reduce cess on petroleum products.  

"When they are not asking your own party ruled state ? Why are you now demanding the Centre to reduce cess on petroleum products?" she questioned.

"Throughout the Lok Sabha election campaign, Congress leaders were accused of high petroleum products due to high cess. However soon after Lok Sabha polls their party ruled states -- Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh -- hiked the cess on petrol and diesel. Why not question your own party ruled states and ask them to reduce the cess," the Minister said.

Reminding Congress members, the Minister said that for the past one year, the Centre reduced petrol and diesel cess twice. Though the BJP ruled states have reduced the cess accordingly, the Congress ruled states have not reduced instead, they hiked the cess, she said.

The Karnataka government issued notification on June 15, 2024 raising Karnataka sales tax from 25.92 percent to 29.84 percent on petrol and from 14.3 percent to 18.4 percent on diesel.