When will prices of petrol and diesel come down? Nirmala Sitharaman answers

New Delhi : Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday answered one of the most crucial questions that is directly impacting the lives of a common man – When will the prices of petrol and diesel come down?

She tagged the situation as 'dharam sankat (dilemma)', claiming that it is hard to say when the prices can be reduced. FM Nirmala Sitharaman was speaking at an event in Ahmedabad.

"It's not just the cess. You have the excise duty of the Centre, then you have the VAT of the states. So there's is no hiding the fact that there is revenue there. It's not just me, you ask any state. There's revenue there," the finance minister further said.

She also mentioned that at this point she sees only one solution to this problem and that is Centre and states must hold talks on the matter.

"I concede that's where action has to be, let's see what we can do," said Sitharaman, adding that she agrees the end users should pay less for fuel.

Earlier on Thursday, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das had said the similar thing that a joint action of the Centre and the state is needed to overcome the situation of rising fuel prices.

“There is a need for coordinated action between the Centre and states because there are inherent taxes levied by both,” the Governor said adding that calibrated reduction of taxes was important.