New Delhi, May 6: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday took a dig the Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre over the hike in excise duty on petrol and diesel. Taking to Twitter, Gandhi said at the time when people of the nation are facing economic hardships due to COVID-19 pandemic, it is unfair on the part of the government to hike the excise duty on petrol and diesel. The former Congress President tweeted in Hindi saying that the government's decision to raise tax on petrol and diesel should be withdrawn.

Here's a rough translation of Gandhi's tweet in Hindi into English: "Amid the ongoing battle with COVID-19 is causing severe economic hardship for our millions of brothers and sisters in India. Gandhi said at this time, instead of lowering prices, the government's decision to increase the tax on petrol and diesel by Rs 10 and Rs 13 respectively, is unfair & should be withdrawn".  Excise Duty on Petrol Hiked by Rs 10 Per Litre, Diesel by Rs 13 Per Litre by Modi Government; Retail Price For Consumers to Remain Unchanged

Take a Look at the Tweet by Rahul Gandhi:

On Tuesday evening, the Central government hiked excise duty by a record Rs 10 per litre on petrol and Rs 13 per litre on diesel. This is the second time since March that the government has hiked excise duty to garner gains arising from fall in international oil prices. In March, the government had hiked the excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 3 per litre each in March to garner about Rs 39,000 crore.

Fuel prices in India have not been revised since March 16 despite international oil prices falling to a two-decade low. The gains will now be adjusted against the excise duty hike. According to a notification issued by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs, special additional excise duty on petrol has been hiked by Rs 2 per litre and road cess has been hiked by Rs 8 a litre. In case of diesel, special additional excise duty has been hiked by Rs 5 per litre and road cess has been raised by Rs 8 a litre.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 06, 2020 01:14 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).