When the Manmohan government was ruling the country, international crude oil prices were at one hundred and ten dollars per barrel, but still, the petrol price in India was seventy-one rupees per liter and diesel was being sold at fifty-seven rupees per liter. Now, it is difficult to understand that, when crude oil prices in the international market are sixty-nine dollars per barrel, in some Indian cities, petrol prices have escalated to hundred rupees per liter. These high prices are devastating people’s financial situation as if they have to spend hundred rupees on petrol, there not much money remains for purchasing other items. Not only that, petrol high prices cause inflation of other items as a cascading effect. Transport becomes dearer and so people have to pay more money on household items which again creates financial disaster. The only solution is to bring petrol and diesel prices under GST. But, central or state governments do not want to lose this hen of petrol which delivers golden egg. Irrespective of who is in the government, the prices of petroleum products change in consonance with the fluctuations in the international oil market. However, these prices too seem to have acquired a political knack as evident from the fact that they did not increase when the elections to the five Assemblies were going on. After the election results are out, the petrol prices began increasing every alternate day, putting holes in the people's pockets. The government only keeps fuel prices under control when elections are due somewhere. Once these are over, the government acts quickly to increase the fuel prices. This is sheer cheating and deception on the part of the government and oil companies. No party is an exception to this robbery in daylight. The petrol and diesel prices were revised ten times in a span of one month. As a result, the price of petrol in several cities of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Maharashtra has crossed the Rs hundred per liter mark. In their habitual justification, fuel marketing agencies claim that the prices were inevitably revised to offset the loss resulting from the increase of crude oil price to sixty-nine US dollars in the international market. When the NDA government came into being in two thousand fourteen, the international price of crude oil was one hundred and ten US dollars per barrel. But then the price of a liter of petrol was Rs seventy-one and diesel was being sold at Rs fifty-seven per liter. The common man is justified in questioning the rationale behind the present price of petrol when compared with its price when each barrel of crude oil was costing 110 USD per barrel. The Prime Minister was speaking only half-truth when he blamed previous governments for their failure to focus on India’s energy import dependence. It may be noted that the excise duty on petrol was just Rs 19.98 per liter before the advent of covid and it was subsequently increased to Rs 32.98 per liter. Similarly, the excise duty on diesel increased from Rs 15.83 per liter to Rs 31.83 in the same period. When Modi came to power, crude oil prices collapsed and the still government did not pass on the benefit to customers. When the prices rise, the government is quick to pass on the loss to customers. This is a double standard playing by every government. State governments too contributed to this by adding VAT to the fuel price. Two-thirds of the fuel price comprises the duties and taxes imposed by the Central and State governments. If states lower the taxes, petrol can become much cheaper. But, states also do not want to lose this tax haven. Many economists state that if petroleum fuel is brought under the purview of GST, the price of petrol will be Rs 75 per liter and aliter of diesel would cost Rs 68 per liter. Their advice is worth acting upon. During the seven years of the NDA rule, the size of the country’s budget almost doubled. In its quest for ensuring adequate revenues for itself, the Central government is collecting the World’s highest excise duties on petroleum. The Central and State governments are extracting more than Rs five lakh crore from the people in the name of duties on petroleum.