Home Minister Vangalapudi Anitha on Monday blamed the previous YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) government for the high fuel prices in Andhra Pradesh, alleging that additional cess and Value Added Tax (VAT) imposed between 2019 and 2024 had sharply increased the burden on consumers.

In a social media post, Ms. Anitha said the taxes imposed during the YSRCP regime led to an increase of ₹8.59 per litre on petrol and ₹6.48 per litre on diesel. She said the present coalition government was unable to roll back those levies immediately because of the difficult financial situation inherited from the previous regime.

Referring to the Telugu Desam Party’s earlier tenure, she claimed that although the Centre had increased fuel prices in 2019, the then TDP government reduced petrol prices by ₹2 per litre to provide relief to consumers. In contrast, she alleged, the YSRCP government repeatedly increased taxes on fuel.

Ms. Anitha said VAT on petrol was increased by ₹2.76 per litre and on diesel by ₹3.07 per litre in February 2020. Later, in July 2020, VAT on both fuels was further raised by ₹4 per litre, while an additional road development cess of ₹1 per litre was imposed in September the same year.

She also alleged that while several States reduced fuel prices by up to ₹10 per litre during the COVID-19 pandemic, the YSRCP government did not follow suit despite suggestions from the Centre.

According to Ms. Anitha, petrol prices rose by nearly ₹40 per litre and diesel prices by about ₹30 per litre within two years of the YSRCP assuming office in 2019. She maintained that the present coalition government had not imposed any fresh taxes on fuel despite facing severe financial stress.

The Home Minister further said the Centre had recently increased fuel prices by ₹3 per litre owing to the impact of the West Asia conflict on global crude oil prices.