Letters to the editor dated February 19, 2021
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Pricey fuels
This refers to the editorial ‘Time to cut’ (February 19). It is rather surprising to note the stubborn attitude exhibited by the Centre and State governments in not providing succour to the common man in terms of fuel pricing. While the recent Budget has been hailed as “investor, industry and infra-centric”, is the government so naïve as not to understand the debilitating impact of frequent oil price hikes on the public?
Apart from taxation issues involved in the pricing of the fuels, the international sanctions imposed on Iran, especially by the US, have a major role in the elevated global crude prices. Iran has been India’s second largest supplier of oil after Saudi Arabia until 2010-11, supplying oil at a concessional rate, including providing insurance cover during transit. This had to be stopped from May 2019 to comply with US sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programme. India should not be allowed to be bullied by the unilateral application of extra-territorial sanctions on third countries for enforcing US foreign policy goals.