A front page news item in yesterday's TOI reports that India has the most expensive petrol in the world. The official thinking is that petrol is used by car owners who can afford to pay more and the taxes thus collected can then be used for subsidising diesel, kerosene, and domestic gas because these are used by poorer people. A Rs 3 rise in petrol price adds only 0.07 points to inflation so it does not matter. What these idiots ignore is that high petrol price instantly depresses car sales, decreases the purchasing power of the middle class by increasing transport costs and encourages people to buy diesel cars increasing subsidy costs and wiping out any gains. Criminal politicians and thieving civil servants are not affected as they use official cars at taxpayer expense so they justify high costs of petrol by comparing with European countries. What the liars conveniently forget are the returns Europeans drivers get from the taxes they pay while all the money is stolen in India. In Europe roads are wide, smooth and clean with no undulations let alone potholes. Rain, snow and freezing temperatures have no effect while our roads develop huge potholes after one shower. Here there is deliberately no coordination between various government agencies so that roads are dug and covered every few weeks to provide money for contractors and bribes for civil servants. Most countries do not have any toll. You can drive from Land's End in the south to John O'Groats in the north of Britain without having to stop even once. Germany built 1 mile of autobahn during World War II but here we have piles of rubble for years. We pay, the criminals enjoy.