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Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday demanded a reduction in petrol and diesel prices, claiming that "pure petrol" should be available at Rs 82 per litre and E20 fuel at Rs 70 per litre.
Addressing the media in the national capital, Kejriwal said, "Pure petrol should be available in our country at Rs 82 per litre; and if we switch to E20 fuel, I believe the price should drop even further, to around Rs 70 per litre, compared to the Rs 102 currently charged for E20 petrol." Claiming that diesel prices could also be reduced similarly, he said lower fuel prices would provide people with much-needed relief. He said, "We can calculate diesel prices in the same way; diesel prices could also be reduced. If petrol and diesel prices come down, I believe it would deal a significant blow to inflation and provide people with much-needed relief." "On behalf of the people of this country, I demand that the government immediately start supplying pure petrol at Rs 82 per litre; and if E20 is to be supplied, the price should be even lower," Kejriwal added. The AAP chief's remarks come days after Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said that a reduction in retail petrol and diesel prices would become a "legitimate question" if global crude oil prices remained at their current levels for the next few weeks, while stressing that it was premature to speculate on an immediate price cut. Addressing a press conference on July 3, Puri said the country's Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) had previously absorbed significant financial losses to shield consumers from fluctuations in global crude oil prices."Oil marketing companies had incurred losses and under-recoveries of Rs 74,781 crore by selling petrol, diesel, and LPG below cost," the minister said. During the same briefing, the minister also defended the government's ethanol blending programme, dismissing concerns over E20 fuel. He said any marginal reduction in mileage was outweighed by improvements in vehicle performance and acceleration, adding that the transition had been implemented after consultations with industry bodies, including the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) and the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI). (ANI)
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