Fuel in India is almost always in discussion mainly because of the incessant rise in petrol prices. There are a bunch of intricacies that surround petrol as a commodity and resource and more often than not, the common man is not really in touch with them. With the parallel rise in social media and channels that promote awareness about current issues in the country, the problem of people being uninformed is being tackled steadily. Nitish Rajput is one such accomplished YouTuber and digital activist who puts out videos with facts, evidence and statistics in order to help viewers understand the nation's current affairs and dilemmas with an in-depth approach.
One of his recent videos titled 'Real Reason Behind Increasing Petrol Prices by Government' gives a quick fifteen minutes lesson on the dynamics of crude oil, petrol prices in India and the reason why they continue to go up. Nitish begins the video by informing the viewers that a rise in petrol prices affects a host of other things - from transportation to production to inflation. After explaining the process of how crude oil is collected and sent to refineries in countries, he talks about how OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) influences international petrol prices.
Nitish Rajput then brings up the very important question of how petrol prices in India continue to rise dramatically even when international crude oil prices are decreased. He mentions excise duty and VAT and explains that since these taxes imposed by the Government are exorbitant, fuel prices in India go on rising. Also, India charges the highest tax on petrol in the world.Additionally, he talked about oil bonds and mentioned that while they are part of the problem, the current Government has earned more revenue than the previous oil bonds. He says petrol has been kept outside GST and that is problematic in itself.