Waiting for good old days.

India's 16th Census - the eighth since independence in 1947 - will see three million officials asking 33 questions to over a billion Indians over one year. "The last census was held in 2011, with the 2021 round delayed by the pandemic and later pushed back due to administrative and electoral scheduling - the first time the decennial exercise missed its schedule." BBC. In Rajasthan, "With the ongoing census exercise throwing up data that differ from government records, particularly on issues such as open defecation and household access to electricity and cooking gas connections, enumerators say they have been asked by senior officials to revisit households and correct the data 'discrepancies'. Several enumerators, mostly government schoolteachers and anganwadi workers, had taken to social media to report the discrepancies and to flag the glaring inequality and poverty on the ground. Some even complained that residents are unwilling to share information, fearing cancellation of government benefits." The Hindu. Paint a rosy picture, or else! Rajasthan has an overwhelming BJP majority in the assembly. wikipedia. An exhibition, curated by Prof Vikas Kumar of Azim Premji University, shows how the country's vast postal system was used to build trust in people. "In the run-up to the 1951 census - the first after independence - the government used a bilingual pictorial postmark" showing "a family of three framed by the words 'Census of India' in Hindi and English." BBC. What a difference. Trust in 1951, while now people hiding facts to protect handouts and enumerators told to cook up data to polish Dear Leader's halo. "Teachers and principals in Delhi government schools have raised concerns over a clash between remedial classes scheduled during the summers break and the upcoming Census-2027 house-listing exercise, saying the overlapping duties" are "technically infeasible". TNIE. "Delhi guest teachers face termination threats for refusing census enumerations duty, citing low compensation (Rs 25,000 for two phases), lack of clarity on expenses and expiring temporary contacts. A DM (District Magistrate) recommended dismissing 142 teachers, calling it 'gross negligence'." The Print. Heil Obersturmfuhrer. The Census will continue into next year. What use are schools without teachers? "For many students in Delhi government schools, completing Class 10 is now bringing an unexpected challenge. Several students and parents in northeast and east Delhi claim that English-medium sections are either being discontinued or merged with Hindi-medium classes in Classes 11 and 12." ET. Classes 11 and 12 are pre-university, indispensable for future careers. "Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent advice to shift towards online classes as a strategic response to the global energy crisis reveals a significant conflict between macroeconomic needs and educational fairness." "Data indicate a backlog of over 7,22,000 vacant teaching positions at the elementary level and over 1,24,000 at the secondary level." Dailyhunt. The rest of the teachers may be on Census duty. Since children are not learning anything anyway, might as well save petrol. Brilliant. Those children, lucky enough to have supportive parents and teachers, have to go through a broken examination system. "Every year between March and August, India experiences two kinds of heat - one seasonal, the other institutional. The latter is the exam season: a prolonged cycle of tests, results, re-evaluations, paper leaks and admission deadlines that drains students and families financially, emotionally, and psychologically. Unlike a heatwave, this one is entirely man-made." DH. It wasn't like this before 2014, when the BJP captured India. Mr Modi coined the slogan "Achche Din Aane Waale Hain" (good days are about to come) before the general election in 2014. wikipedia. Who knew it would be a destruction of our future. Pre-2014 seems much better in hindsight. Real good old days.    

A consequence of too little spreads.

India's "Exports rose by 13.78% to USD 43.56 billion in April, the highest monthly outbound shipments in more than four years, driven by petroleum products amid a surge in crude oil prices, but the trade deficit widened to a three-month high of USD 28.38 billion due to an uptick in imports." ET. Which means a current account deficit (CAD) instead of a surplus. "Foreign investors (FPIs) continued to pare their exposure in Indian equities, withdrawing Rs 329.63 billion in May." "In 2026 so far, the total outflow by FPIs from the equity market has reached just under Rs 2.3 trillion, which is higher than the nearly Rs 1.7 trillion pulled out during the entire 2025." TOI. "The aggregate net investments by FPIs in local shares stood at Rs 7.3 trillion as on June 1," so that the value of India's stock market has fallen behind Taiwan and South Korea. ET. FPIs have been selling Indian government bonds as well. FPIs are "net sellers of $836 million in the general debt route and $490 million in the voluntary retention route," but "net buyers of $$48 million in the passive fully accessible route." The reason for the selloff of Indian bonds is that "India's benchmark 10-year government bond yields 7.004%, compared  with 4.435% on the US 10-year Treasury leaving a spread of about 256 basis points (bps)" Historically, it has been above 300 points, Mint. The fall in the rupee against the dollar has added to the FPI decision to sell. The reason is that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has chosen to reduce the difference between its interest rate and that of the US. The US Federal Reserve cut its Funds rate down to 0% to 0.25% on 1 March 2020 (Forbes), while the RBI cut its interest rate to 4% on 23 May 2020 (The Hindu) which gave a spread of 400 bps. The US Fed started raising rates on 17 March 2022, reaching a height of 5.25% to 5.50%, while the RBI started hiking its interest rate on 5 May 2022 (TOI), to its highest level of 6.5% in February 2023 (Bajaj). Which means that the difference with the US fell from 400 bps to just 100 bps. The Fed started reducing its Funds rate in September 2024 and has stopped at 3.50% to 3.75% in December 2025, while the RBI cut its interest rate by a cumulative 125 bps to 5.25% (BT). The difference with the US is 125 basis points. Foreign investors are clearly not impressed. "India is trying to defend the rupee and the stock market simultaneously - an expensive ambition for a country running persistent current account and lately, balance-of-payments deficits, especially when much of it forex reserves are rented capital," wrote Shankar Sharma. While China earns surpluses, "Our dollars largely come from: FPIs, foreign direct investment (FDI), Borrowings and overseas remittances." Domestic investors are supporting the stock market and helping FPIs exit at higher prices. Share prices should be allowed to fall, says Sharma. "Countries survive stock market crashes. But countries routinely go bankrupt because of currency crashes." The RBI is also helping FPIs  by constantly selling dollars to support the rupee. A stronger rupee buys more dollars for FPIs. Yesterday, "The rupee ended at 95.2650 per dollar." "Traders said that the losses would have been steeper had it not been for the RBI's dollar-selling interventions, which have continued in almost every session since the rupee hit a record low of 96.96 per dollar in mid-May." Reuters. According to Bloomberg Economics, the RBI may have sold $12 billion worth of gold to buy foreign exchange. ET. The RBI is effectively transferring our gold and forex reserves to foreign investors. In doing so, by some magic of math, the RBI made so much profit that it transferred Rs 2.87 trillion to the Central government. TIE. If the RBI makes profits from transferring dollars to foreigners, it should transfer some dollars to Indian citizens as well. Indians will become wealthier, the RBI will augment its profits and the government will get higher transfers to cover its fiscal deficit. A win-win-win, if ever there was one. Magic. 

Perjury is blatant contempt.

"What began as one student's viral complaint about a mismatch between the physical and digital copies of his Grade 12 physics has snowballed into a major controversy."  "Called on-screen marking system (OSM), the system works by scanning physical copies of answer-sheets and uploading them on an online portal for teachers to evaluate. A software then calculates total marks in each exam." BBC. "The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has admitted to discrepancies in the evaluation of Class 12 answer sheets and said marks will be revised in two cases after a student's viral social media post exposed an apparent Physics answer sheets mix-up during the re-evaluation process." India Today. Where there are two cases there could be two thousand or even two million. If it wasn't for social media they might have covered up their goof-up. No wonder, India has one of the highest internet censorship in the world. wikipedia. Class 12 results are most important because admissions to prestigious colleges may depend on them and children's lives, their careers and lifetime earnings damaged permanently. "When Vedant Srivastava, a Class 12 student from Delhi, posted about his CBSE Physics paper mix-up on X, he probably did not expect a senior journalist to accuse him of being Pakistani." When Ashok Shrivastav, anchor of Doordarshan News saw Vedant's post on X was from South Asia, he remarked sarcastically, "Did Pakistanis also appear for CBSE exams.?" He later apologized. The Wire. Vedant was abused as 'anti-national Soros agent' and a 'Pakistani' online (TOI), probably by the lobotomized supporters of the BJP. In May, "the National Eligibility Entrance Test (Undergraduate), known as NEET-UG - has been at the center of a controversy this year following allegations that the question paper was leaked." Following which, "the National Testing Agency (NTA), which conducts the exam, canceled the test that took place on 3 May." BBC. Months and years of hard preparation wasted. All Pakistanis? Two days ago, "At least six people were killed and eight others injured after a four-storey building, housing a mess and paying guest accommodation, collapsed in South Delhi's Saidulajab area near Saket Metro Station." HT. Must be Pakistani for dying. Apparently, "The Delhi Police had written to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) on two occasions in March about ongoing illegal construction atop the four-storey building near Saket Metro station that collapsed." TIE. When local resident Sakir Ahmed filed a case in Delhi High Court against the illegal construction, "MCD's counsel Roshan Lal Goel submitted that 'no construction whatsoever is going on in the subject property'." The Print. It is probably only in India that lawyers are able to get away with blatant perjury in courts without any punishment. At the very least, judges should react with severity to this egregious contempt of court. Illegal construction is rampant all over Delhi, a lucrative source of bribes. Speaking in Kerala, Vice President CP Radhakrishnan asked for "constructive journalism" to "strengthen public confidence" and warned the media that "Positive activities should be reported well. Only then will youngsters receive the right information. Otherwise, they will lose interest and end up following the 'cockroach'." HT. In short, brainwash youngsters and create a nation of deluded Bhakts (DH) who will applaud on cue like robots while working in subsistence level gig jobs after years in higher education. "Nearly 40% of graduates aged 15-25 - and 20% of those aged 25-29 - are unemployed." BBC. How should "constructive journalism" report leaked question papers destroying lives and collapsing buildings taking lives to "strengthen public confidence"? Call them Pakistanis and Soros agents. Creating a nation of imbeciles. That sure will "strengthen public confidence". Confidently brainless.

An excess of money.

"A weaker rupee, often seen as a sign of economic stress, may be emerging as an unexpected advantage for India's exporters, according to the government's economic review. But the Finance Ministry has cautioned that the benefit will materialise only if global demand remains resilient and inflation stays under control." ET. The latest annual report from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) says that, "On the one hand, the central bank sees strong domestic demand, healthy banks and continued economic resilience. On the other, it flags concerns over slowing growth, rising global uncertainty, inflation risks and geopolitical tensions that could affect India in the months ahead." India Today. "On May 29, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) net sold Rs 206.37 billion worth of Indian equities, their largest single one-day withdrawal in years, according to NSE provisional data." "Domestic institutional investors cushioned some of the blows, buying Rs 162.60-Rs 167.64 billion, but could not prevent the sharp fall." MSN. "Foreign investors continued to pare their exposure to Indian equities, withdrawing Rs 329.63 billion in May due to weak earnings growth, rupee depreciation and more attractive opportunities in other markets. With this total outflow by FPIs  from the equity market has reached Rs 2.25 trillion in 2026, which is higher than the Rs 1.66 trillion pulled out during the entire 2025." ET. If rupee depreciation is one of the factors for the selling, FPIs repatriating in foreign exchange weakens the rupee even further. Among its many functions, one of the most important function of the RBI is maintaining the value of the rupee. The RBI does that by varying the interest rate, buying or selling foreign exchange, mainly dollars, buying gold and open market operations. Kunvarji Wealth Solutions. Most importantly, RBI has the power to print money. "The RBI prints and manages currency in India." While, "The Indian government regulates the denominations of currency in circulation." Investopedia. "Last week the RBI transferred a record dividend of Rs 2.87 trillion to the Centre for 2025-26." "In 2025-26, the RBI's income was a record Rs 4.28 trillion, up 26% the previous year. Of this, it spent about a third, or Rs 1.41 trillion." TIE. To infuse liquidity into the system, the RBI bought Rs 9 trillion worth of government bonds from banks. Strangely, it shows interest from government bonds at Rs 1.08 trillion as income but does not show the purchasing price of Rs 9 trillion as expenditure. "The RBI's balance sheet swelled to Rs 91.97 trillion at the end of March 2026, up 20.6% year-on-year, due to a rise in domestic investments as well as gold and foreign investments, according to the central bank's annual report." newsonair.gov.in. Since the RBI has no manufacturing or services business, cannot create foreign exchange and does not own a gold mine, it must be buying its assets with Indian Rupees. In India, "On one side is its gleaming showcase, UPI (Unified Payments Interface)  (wikipedia), with 21.7 billion transactions in January 2026 worth Rs 28.33 trillion in value. On the other side is the system of physical cash. Currency in circulation (CIC) hit Rs 40 trillion, rising 11% year-on-year," wrote Ajit Ranade. "The apparent paradox of the usage of both rising is a warning that we are settling into a hybrid equilibrium: digital for convenience, cash for avoidance or for those excluded from UPI's digital infrastructure." UPI is linked to bank accounts, which means a phenomenal increase in money supply "which includes all cash and liquid assets in a nation's economy on a certain date." Investopedia. When there is an excess of money its value will fall and inflation will follow. Is the RBI responsible? Can someone explain. Unless they are too terrified.          

Reveal. From abroad.

"Indian politics has acquired an unusual mascot - the cockroach. A satirical collective that takes inspiration from the insect - stubborn, reviled and considered indestructible - has attracted millions of online followers and mainstream media attention in less than a week, making even veteran politicians sit up and take notice." BBC. The lobotomized Bhakts (devotees) of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who live in a delusional world (DH), issued death threats against Abhijit Dipke, founder of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP). "Listen, you'll get money. Shut this account down, otherwise join the BJP. Otherwise, they'll even get you killed in America." TOI. While this message has been interpreted as hostile, it could actually be from a well-wisher, hinting at the shooting of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada on 18 June 2023, which was blamed on Indian government agents by the then Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau. wikipedia. Following that, in February 2026, Indian citizen Nikhil Gupta confessed to a murder-for-hire plot against US citizen Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in a US court. justice.gov. There is an FBI warrant for Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) officer Vikash Yadav, who is accused of recruiting and controlling Gupta. fbi.gov. Strangely, the Indian government has been silent on Nikhil Gupta's confession and the involvement of a RAW officer. However, shortly after Gupta's arrest, Vikash Yadav was charged with kidnapping and robbing a cafe owner of his watch and some money in Delhi (NDTV) and has not been mentioned since. So rattled is the BJP that "CJP founder Dipke...moved the Delhi High Court challenging the Centre over the blocking of the group's social media accounts, days after the satirical online movement went viral." TOI. If so many people log on to CJP who will read Dear Leader's blather? The CJP garnered 22 million followers in just a week, more than twice the BJP's 8.9 million. "At the heart of this current festering, and the moment that the people's internet has seized upon, is the chasmic discrepancy also between the words of the Prime Minister, and his actions. He left on this frenetic foreign tour the day after announcing austerity measures for the citizens of the country, including recommendations not to travel abroad for vacations," wrote Shayoni Mitra. Mr Modi has never held a press conference since being elected prime minister in 2014. Recently, he walked away without answering journalist Helen Lyng's question while on his visit to Norway. Ironically, Lyng asked why he doesn't take questions. BBC. "The attempt to hide tele-prompters placed in front of Modi is a cunning ploy to create false impressions." During his tour, "photographs showed a tele-prompter placed in front of him in Italy for making a short prepared statement. But the image released officially had erased the tele-prompter from the photograph." "Many videos of formal meetings with heads of state had audio muted. Some videos with audio somehow got released and people started talking about Modi's intellectual limitations. Some even sarcastically  remarked about Modi's artificial and unnecessary laughter." The Indian media has strenuously protected Mr Modi, wrote Sanjay K Jha. Meanwhile, US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth credited President Donald Trump for brokering peace between India and Pakistan, while speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore. ET. Operation Sindoor, from 7-10 May 2025 (pib.gov.in), just refuses to go away. "In his press briefing on the morning of May 10, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri indicated that India was in a position of dominance. Hours later on the same day India had capitulated and agreed to a ceasefire." The Diplomat. Trump keeps interfering with attempts to spin it into a huge victory. A blinkered media, selfish party leaders and business cronies are keeping Indians ignorant of how Mr Modi is damaging the nation. The truth can be disclosed. But only by someone living abroad. Like CJP.     

Oil, ethanol or food.

About two weeks back, "Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged Indians to cut down the use of vegetable oil." "India imported $19.5 billion worth of vegetable oils in 2025-26." NDTV. "International prices of edible oil have shot up in recent months - they were up 23% on-year in April,"..."with major producer Indonesia diverting supplies to make bio-diesel in an effort to mitigate the spike in global crude prices." "In 1980-81, an average Indian consumed less than 4kg of oil in a year. By 2021-22, this had dramatically risen to nearly 20kg, as per data cited in a Niti Aayog report." India imports 60% of its edible oil use." "Currently, oilseeds are mostly grown by marginal farmers, who lack access to irrigation, in marginal soils, leading to poor yields." Increasing acreage is not feasible as that will hurt pulses which already face a supply shortfall, wrote Sayantan Bera. Meanwhile, "Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari, has issued a bold call for India to transition towards '100 percent ethanol blending' in petrol." Currently India imports 87% of its crude oil requirement at a cost of Rs 22 trillion annually, and domestically produced ethanol will cut India's import bill. msn.com. Unlike petroleum, which comes from under the ground, ethanol is produced from agricultural products. In India, ethanol is produced from rice, sugarcane and maize and, with prices going up, "Maize has been sown across 9.189 million hectares so far in the 2025-26 kharif season."  As a result, "poultry and cattle feed industries, which consume 60-70% of India's maize, are facing tighter supplies," and "There has been a notable shift from groundnut, sunflower, soybean, sorghum, millet and pulses." "Data showed that area under oilseeds has come down by almost 700,000 hectares and while tur (pigeon peas) area has decreased by over 200,000 hectares." Down to Earth. To produce maize, rice and sugarcane for ethanol India needs fertilizers. "Natural gas is a critical raw material used in the production of fertilizers. The production of ammonia, phosphoric acid and other chemicals in the fertilizer industry relies heavily on natural gas."  TLI. In 2023, India imported almost $10.5 billion worth of fertilizers from 64 countries, including Russia, China, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Canada, and others. WITS. Urea is the most widely used nitrogen fertilizer in the world and "The production of urea depends heavily on natural gas, which acts both as a chemical feedstock and and as an energy store." Global Agriculture. In 2024, India imported nearly $15 billion worth of liquefied natural gas (LNG) (WITS) because we do not produce enough. To keep the cost of food down the government subsidizes fertilizers. "By way of illustration, India has been buying urea at $935 per tonne but selling it to farmers at only $70 per tonne, a mind-boggling subsidy of $865 per tonne," wrote Sudipto Mundle. The government should pass the full cost of imports to consumers, which will reduce consumption and help in reducing the fiscal and current account deficits, thus reducing the pressure on the rupee. On 13 May, "India...banned sugar exports with immediate effect until 30 September 2026, or until further orders, the government said in a notification." India is the second largest sugar producer in the world. Reuters. Stopping exports means earning less foreign exchange. The rupee is trading at 95 to one dollar (in. investing.com) with the RBI fighting to keep it from dropping to 100 to one dollar. To protect the rupee the government wants to reduce spending foreign exchange on oil imports through ethanol from crops, which need imported fertilizers using forex. Diversion of land to maize means higher imports of pulses and cooking oil with forex. Stopping sugar exports loses forex. Passing on the cost of imports may cause double-digit rise in prices. Does anyone know what they are doing? Headless chickens (idioms) come to mind.      

No pessimism, SIPs soaring.

Blaming external factors, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said, "We should understand the factors and focus on the three 'F's - fuel, fertiliser and foreign exchange." "We should also appreciate that the challenges are more [externally] driven." "And a pessimistic, cynical narrative is generated, which is just not right. It is not right because it is fear mongering. India cannot afford fear mongering. India continues with a robust economy." The Wire. It was meant to be a stirring speech, but fear is also an 'F' word. A US-Iran peace deal will not improve matters because "the Middle East crisis has exacerbated a different kind of shortage in the world's most populous nation - of capital and ideas. Neither gap will be plugged any time soon. The two flows are interlinked." India has been financing its current account deficit with capital surpluses, but "More than 60% of IPO fundraising last year ended up giving exits to firms' original sponsors. In other words, Indian households and institutions' bought the IOUs, and foreigners took out dollars," wrote Andy Mukherjee. "An astonishing $53 billion has exited Indian stock markets in the last 18 months." Because the inflow into Systematic Investment Plans (SIP) by the Indian middle class has increased from Rs 200 billion per month to Rs 320.87 billion, so that the price-earnings ratio is at 22.5 when the emerging-market average is 15-16. Domestic buying is allowing foreigners to exit at higher prices and this is leading to the rupee's weakness, wrote Swaminathan Aiyar. Another 'F' for foreigners. In October 2025, "At a global summit where Elon Musk, Mark Cuban and Eric Schmidt debated the future of AI, energy and defence, India wasn't mentioned even once. Why? Because we still haven't built the deep, scalable ecosystems that make a nation unavoidable in global conversations," wrote industrialist Harsh Goenka. Zero innovation. Instead we get, "Most investors lose money trying to predict market highs and lows. There is a smarter, simpler way: Rupee Cost Averaging. Invest a fixed amount every month, no matter what the market does. That is it." ET. Doubling down on SIP which will give foreigners more opportunities to sell and put more pressure on the rupee. This has resulted in a windfall gain for the government as the RBI transferred Rs 2,865.88 billion (nearly Rs 2.9 trillion) as dividend for 2026-27. "It is close to 8% of the Centre's revenue receipts." "The RBI accumulated dollars over many years when the rupee was much stronger When it sells those dollars today at a weaker exchange rate, it books a rupee gain." In October 2025, "RBI significantly relaxed the framework for External Commercial Borrowings (ECBs) effective 16 February 2026, permitting entities to borrow from any person resident outside India, enhancing the ECB limit from $750 mn to $1 bn / 300% of net worth, relaxing it for financial sector regulated entities, removing the restrictions on all-in cost etc." vinodkothari.com. May be because increased borrowing in dollars by companies will increase forex reserves, and if the company goes bankrupt, there will be no sovereign risk. Companies borrow abroad when interest rates are low. However, Indian companies earn in rupees and when the rupee falls their cost of repayment may become intolerable. This leads to 'fear of floating', wherein the RBI "knows that a crash of the rupee would wreck corporate balance sheets with large dollar liabilities, make imports costlier and impact portfolio flows" inducing the RBI to intervene to support the rupee. This was called the 'original sin' by economists Barry Eichengreen and Ricardo Hausman, wrote Prof Tulsi Jayakumar. 'Fear of floating' is a double 'F'. Fleeing foreign investors, fiscal monetisation, fear of floating, so many 'F's to fear. But SIP investment is soaring. Who is   pessimistic?     

Whose sacrifice was it?

"The poor in India are paying a higher proportion of their income in tax due to the Goods and Service Tax (GST), claimed Mukulika Banerjee, an anthropologist at the London School of Economics." "Experts, however, fact-checked her, saying that the basket of products used commonly, including the poor is mostly untaxed or faces 5% GST at best." "Tautologically, the consumption basket of the rich has far higher GST than that of the poor. India's sub-middle classes pay very little tax," wrote Somnath Mukherhee. It is true that unpacked food items bear no GST, while articles of daily use are taxed at 5%. cashfree.com. Taxes on automobiles, air-conditioners, televisions, monitors and projectors have been reduced from 28% to 18%. These are probably seen as luxury goods, not for the poor. In April, "India is currently witnessing severe heatwave conditions across multiple regions, with 95 of the world's hottest cities located in the country, raising concerns over the impact of rising temperatures." newsonair.gov.in. Officially, India is the hottest country on the planet. Should the poor not desire automobiles and air-conditioners to protect themselves from this blistering heat? Why are lotteries taxed at 40% when they are bought almost exclusively by the poor? "Lotteries are said to exploit the poor, as they sell the false dream of easy money.This has resulted in cases of bankruptcy, loss of property and even suicide in the worst cases." MC. So, the poor are exploited twice, first by the lottery selling false dreams and then by the government, if the dream actually came true at odds of billions to one. "In the UK, lottery winnings are entirely tax-free upon receipt, with no deductions for income tax, capital gains tax, or any other direct taxes." "Whether you win 1,000 or 100 million pounds, you'll receive the full amount without deductions." uwaccountancy.com. In the UK, if you take the risk you deserve the reward in full. In India, you take 100% of the risk, the government takes 40% of the reward. Tautologically, whatever that means. Automobiles used to run on petrol. After paying 18% GST on an automobile, "Petrol tax in India consists of 55% of petrol's retailing tax while diesel is 50% of the fuel's retail value." cleartax.in. The retail price of petrol in India has been increasing from 60.50 per liter in 2015 (cleartax.in), when it was at an average of about $2.5 per US gallon in the US (eia.gov), which converts to about Rs 41.5 per liter, taking one dollar at Rs 63 (thomascook.in). In 2020, the retail price of petrol was hiked to Rs 80.43 per liter while it was at an average of $2.5 per gallon in the US, which converts to Rs 48 per liter because the rupee had fallen from Rs 70.96 to one dollar in January 2020 to 73.78 in December. The retail price of petrol has been over Rs 95 per liter in India since 2021, whereas it varied from about Rs 90 per liter in 2021 to around Rs 75 per liter in the US, the rupee having fallen to 86 to one dollar. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said four days ago, "From the government's side, for about 76 days, our objective has been to ensure no additional burden is placed upon the people. We have provided relief amounting to more than Rs 1 trillion annually this year through reductions in excise duty." TN. This is 'pants on fire stuff' (urban dictionary). Postponing the hike in the retail price of fuel till after assembly elections in various states (wikipedia) was a cynical exercise in conning people. The government's duty is to increase disposable income by levying the lowest possible taxes, especially on fuel which is price inelastic. But the government has raked in around Rs 50 trillion from the extortionate taxes on fuel since 2015 (ppac.gov.in) and so any reduction in the duty is not a subsidy. The worst con is that it is all being done for the poor when the poor are suffering the most from high indirect taxes, as Mukulik Banerjee claimed. "The attitude that just because most Indians are poor, we should not have high standards for Indian life explains why our roads are dangerous and why trains derail; our standards are low at almost every level," wrote Manu Joseph. Deliberately keep people poor through high taxes and then treat them like beggars by distributing taxpayer money just before election (pib.gov.in) and they will gratefully vote for you. If that is not cynical, what is? Tautologically.