The Indian petrol story is one that never seems to stop fascinating me. The budget each year outlines a massive bill towards subsidisation of fuel.
Ok, agreed we get fuel cheaper than the rest of the world. The subsidization of the fuel is paid by the government (with our tax money). So in effect, the people of the country are paying the price of fuel any which way.
When you break the price of fuel down, one would notice that almost 45% of the price that we pay comes in the form of Excise Duty, Customs Duty, Sales Tax and VAT; which again goes back to the government.
So if the government were to just hold on to the same price of petrol and reduce the taxes that were being charged, the oil companies would be better off and they would not need to the tax money to survive anyway. I do not suppose that the government is paying more than 50% of the cost of fuel as subsidy!
Why cant they just remove the taxes/lessen them considerably and ensure that they dont have the onus of ensure the survival of the oil companies on their head? Why this convoluted nonsense?
They give us subsidy and take it back as taxes!
Agreed.. Sounds counter intuitive.. But if we paid just for gas with no subsidies or taxes, there would be no middle man. With the current scheme of things, the government gets to play middle man with our money and filter it through their pockets before it reaches its intended recipient. We need anarchy!
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