Raveena Tandon and other celebs in dismay over fuel price hike

Raveena Tandon

Popular Bollywood celebrities like Raveena Tandon, Farhan Akhtar, and Chetan Bhagat expressed concern over the ongoing furore over a fuel price hike across India. Taking to Twitter, the celebs urged the Centre to come up with a solution soon. Actress Raveena Tandon said the hike in fuel prices will ultimately raise the prices of vegetables. 'As a layperson and not an expert, it's simple, higher the transport prices may be the rich can carpool, that's good for the environment, but the prices of daily consumer needs goes up. Basic need for the poor ' pulses and vegetables - get costlier in the market,' Raveena tweeted. 'It might not be any government's fault, but they can make the corrections when in power so that the poor don't suffer and bear the brunt,' Raveena Tandon added.

Actor-filmmaker Farhan Akhtar took a jibe at the situation and tweeted: 'Rs 84 per litre mubarak to you and your loved ones. Actual cost I believe is Rs 31, based on info I could find online (do correct me if I'm wrong, happy to learn). The rest are central and state taxes, cess and commissions. Just so you know that the price can be brought down,' Farhan wrote.

Author Chetan Bhagat, meanwhile, suggested that the Centre should impose Goods and Services Tax (GST) on fuel prices. 'Dear BJP and @narendramodi please put petrol and diesel in GST,' Bhagat wrote. However, Bhagat's suggestion might not work for now as Minister of State (MoS) for Finance Shiv Pratap Shukla on Wednesday said imposing GST on fuel price will not be possible until and unless all state finance ministers agree to the same.

Noted producer Ekta Kapoor also addressed the issue while promoting her film 'Veere Di Wedding' in Mumbai. 'Even if petrol prices are at its highest, men will take women for drives and in today's time, women will take men for drives. This isn't the movie that you're going to stop watching as at this time you need to spend less on driving and more in theatre,' she said.

Petrol prices rose by 30 paise in most metropolitans earlier today. In Mumbai, they touch Rs. 85 per liter, whereas in New Delhi, the rate has crossed Rs. 77 for a litre, fuming the general public.

Also read: Dharmendra Pradhan: Government looking at steps to control fuel prices

Catch up on all the latest entertainment news and gossip here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates

Edited by mid-day online desk with inputs from ANI