Urmila Matondkar takes sarcastic dig at the rising fuel prices

In the wake of the rising prices of fuel, actor-turned-politician Urmila Matondkar on Thursday took a sarcastic dig over the hike in petrol prices. After Rajasthan, the petrol price on Thursday crossed the Rs 100 per litre mark in Madhya Pradesh after fuel rates were increased for the tenth day in a row.

Altering some words of an old rhyme, Urmila used the poem ''Akkad bakkad bambey bo" to comment on the issue.

Meanwhile, Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Wednesday urged Saudi Arabia and other global oil producers to ease production cuts, saying rising international oil prices are "hurting economic recovery and demand." Demand recovery should take "primacy" over oil prices at least for the next few months, Dharmendra Pradhan said.

"The rising crude oil prices during the last few weeks is hurting the fragile global economic recovery due to significant demand contraction, which might even mirror the impact of COVID-19 in its initial stages," Pradhan said at the 11th IEA IEF OPEC Symposium on Energy Outlooks.

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Rising fuel prices

While the opposition has been up in arms over the continuous increase in fuel prices, the Union government has not announced a reduction in excise duty so far. In a startling development, the petrol price in Sri Ganganagar district of Rajasthan has crossed Rs.100 per litre. The rise in India's Crude Oil Basket from an average of 40.7 dollars per barrel in October 2020 to 62.64 dollars per barrel in February 2021 is considered a key factor for the current situation. At the same time, it is also owing to the fact that both the Centre and many states have increased their taxes on petrol and diesel. Deflecting criticism on Tuesday, Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari advocated that it was time to switch to "alternative fuel". 

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