Platinum : Gold : PETROL

The title says it all... but still there are finer aspects to this. The prices of fuel have now hit a mind blowing Rs 49.81 here in Hyderabad and an excess of Rs 51 in bangalore. I happened to notice the breakup of fuel prices in NIC some time back.

47.32 (petrol price in Bangalore in INR)=
19.64 (value at supply point) +
14.86 (excise duty + edu. cess - Central Govt.) +
11.91 (States sales tax) +
0.77 (dealer commission) +
0.14 (other charges)

Now i can understand the value at supply point but the other charges seem to make no sense to me. The biggest question to me is to where this money is going? I still am negotiating potholes (and all the other inherent aspects of Indian roads), i still am riding in badly lit roads w/o road dividers, I still am running on standard 87 octane fuel (sub standard in many other countries) …

I am beginning to wonder whether paying taxes is day light robbery.

I have always heard that problems need to be addressed at the grass root level. But here its way below that: HELL, I would say.