THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala Finance Minister KN Balagopal has responded to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the fuel tax issue. Responding to Modi's criticism, Balagopal said that Kerala had not hiked fuel tax for the last six years. Earlier, Modi had alleged that states, including Kerala, were not ready to reduce fuel tax despite the Centre demanding them to do so.

"Kerala is one of the few states that did not hike the fuel tax. The Centre had been constantly hiking fuel tax for the past few years. The Centre has been collecting huge amounts as taxes from Kerala. It should end the surcharge and cess being levied unjustly. The PM should not make statements in a way that misleads the people," Balagopal said.

The Prime Minister had criticized states including Kerala during the high-level meeting of chief ministers.

"The Centre had in November reduced the excise duty on petrol and diesel taking into account the crisis in the country. The Centre also asked states to reduce taxes. Some followed and a few states were not ready for it. For this reason, fuel prices continue to rise in these states.
States like Kerala, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Jharkhand were not ready to reduce taxes," the PM said.