The theme song is all too familiar: ‘It’s the oil companies that have raised the petrol prices, not the Government which had decontrolled it long back’. The modus operandi too is a much-tested official tactic: A shocker timed after Parli session so that the already hot cauldron does not explode. The UPA allies are all lies as usual: ‘We were not consulted, so roll back the increase, but dont worry, no rollback of support’! The Cong for its part plays the classic Jekyll & Hyde act with party distancing itself from the regime it leads. To us common folk, it is a deadly double deja vu, the hike and such hypocrisy: So once again, it is swallow, suffer and sink, which is what we do best!
All of us understand the simple arithmatic that an infirm Re that is close to reaching retirement age will make oil imports costlier. But what we cannot comprehend is how the currency of India, a much- touted star emerging economy, can perform worse than the lesser Asian countries against the dollar which itself is not in the best of forms. The mismanagement of the nation’s finances by wizards at the helm with fancy degrees and pedigree is quite glaring. But despite this shining alibi, there is a sinister suspicion that the rupee fall could well be choreographed!
Typically, those who hold their savings in dollar deposits or have dollar income, like exporters, NRIs, repatrees, foreign currency borrowers/investment-seekers etc, benefit from a depreciating rupee. But there are other players. Cut to the recent white paper on black money presented in Parli by FM Pranab. While it bares known facts and hides known names, it has, however declared that the money in swiss banks has come down from Rs 22000 crs to Rs 9000 odd crs in the last few years. Is it because there is less corruption? On the contrary, we know that corruption actually peaked in this period. Yes, it is possible that the Swiss banks are facing competition.
But the white paper on black money itself lays down the reasons in black and white: ‘The illicit money transferred outside India may come back through various methods such as hawala, mispricing, foreign direct investment, beneficial tax jurisdictions, raising of capital by Indian companies through global depository receipts and investment in Indian stock markets through participatory notes. It is possible that a large amount of money transferred outside India might have returned …’. The teeming multitudes of India do not have enough dough even for their local accounts, let alone distant Swiss ones. The soiled political class and the snooty upper business class obviously form this elite club.
Even honest earners of foreign currency find the falling rupee a dicey opportunity to convert some of their savings for a rainy Indian day. To the vultures who preyed on the paltry remains of the tax-payer here and piled it up elsewhere, the compulsions and temptations are many. With cool Swiss getting hotter for their loot, is it not ideal to combine patriotism with profit by bringing back their booty and even that at high rupee-dollar exchange rates? Cannot the rupee be rigged if the powerful so decide? These are scam-ridden days when honesty levels of those in high places are falling faster than our currency. So there is every reason to believe that the reverse flow of illegal Indian money is directly related to the inflating dollar. And thereby to the fuel price hike. Well, we wanted the illicit foreign stash back. We never stated how and for how much.
There is this simmering anger that saved political sleaze money could have subsidised people’s burden. There are other perversions. That taxes contribute to almost 50% of the petrol price has always been hard to digest. Diesel, the poor man’s fuel, is fast losing its egalitarian tag, what with luxury cars now gulping it up by gallons. Also, the Petroleum Ministry has always been the biggest cesspool of corruption till it was overshadowed by Telecom. Even a subtle change in a policy fineprint can yield bounties to those at the helm. Petrol pump allocation has also been a favoured instrument of political patronage. Hoarding, adulteration, differential pricing, tampered meters, sleight of hand while filling etc are all rife here making the black liquid gold murkier than it looks.
At less than Rs 10 a litre, even at current Re-$ rates, one envies the gulf countries. Unfortunately, India’s nether world is not so copiously endowed. Or fortunately so, considering the way other national natural resources like coal, metals, sand and spectrum are being scandalised. The point is, all the Sheiks in those deserts have long ago moved to Mercs and Helis, thanks to the largesse of guzzlers like us and US. That would have rendered lakhs of camels out of work. Why not import them instead to make our commute cheaper? And less polluting too since camel droppings, even from such a high altitude, leave a lesser carbon footprint than fuel emission. Of course we ourselves may find its height an uncomfortable climb, but then we would have got off the fuel spiral. If we are going to, be taken on a ride anyway, dont camel rides make more sense than car rides?
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