Is there going to be a Covid like lockdown in India? Know what the government said on the rumors

New Delhi: Amid rumors of imposing a lockdown in the country due to shortage of LPG, the Central Government has clearly said that nothing like this is going to happen. The government said there are no plans to impose any restrictions on public movement or economic activities. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday termed such reports as baseless. He said that no action like lockdown is being considered. The Finance Minister said, ‘I want to assure people that there will be no lockdown. I am surprised that some leaders are saying that there will be a lockdown and there will be a fuel shortage. These things are baseless.

‘There will be no lockdown like Covid’

Sitharaman said, ‘Such statements coming from leaders are worrying. There will be no lockdown like Covid. I want to reassure people that there will be no lockdown like Covid. Let us tell you that earlier, Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri also clearly said that there will be no lockdown in the country, as was imposed during the pandemic. He criticized the lockdown rumours, calling it ‘harmful’.

‘The rumors of lockdown are completely false’

Hardeep Singh Puri wrote in a post on X, ‘The rumors of lockdown in India are completely false. I want to say clearly that no such proposal is being considered by the Government of India. In such times we should remain calm, responsible and united. In such a situation, efforts to spread rumors and create panic are harmful. The Finance Minister said that the main objective of reducing excise duty on petrol and diesel is to protect consumers from the rising prices of crude oil due to the ongoing conflict in West Asia.

There has been a huge reduction in excise duty

Let us tell you that the government has made a huge cut in excise duty on petrol and diesel on Friday. Now the excise duty on petrol has been reduced to Rs 3 per liter and on diesel it has been reduced to zero. Windfall tax on export of diesel has been fixed at Rs 21.5 per litre. The cuts come amid the global energy crisis triggered by the US-Israeli war on Iran and the subsequent blockade imposed by Tehran on the Strait of Hormuz. One fifth of the world’s supply of crude oil and gas passes through this strait. Before the conflict, India used to buy 12 to 15 percent of oil from this area.