India is a geographical paradise with a multitude of rivers flowing across the country. While most of the rivers in the country are east flowing in nature, i.e. they join the Bay Of Bengal, there are a few rivers that defy the odds and are west flowing! These west flowing rivers ultimately end up in the Arabian Sea. Unlike eastern flowing rivers, the western flowing rivers don’t create deltas on the path they follow on their way to the ocean.This can be attributed to the fact that the Western flowing rivers pass through many gorges, V-shaped valleys and are swifter than Eastern flowing rivers.
Here is a list of West flowing rivers that one must know:
Narmada River
Considered as a geographical barrier between North and South India, Narmada river is the third largest river in India and the largest western flowing river among all. It originates from Narmada Kund at Amarkantak, situated in the Maikal Range, and is also known as the Lifeline of Madhya Pradesh. Narmada River covers about 1300 km after which it drains through the Gulf Of Cambay into the Arabian Sea!
Tapti River
Also known as Tapi River, Tapti River is one of the major rivers in central India. With a length of about 700 km, it is a major western flowing river, covering the states of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat. It originates in Multai near Betul and drains through the Gulf of Khambhat into the Arabian Sea!
Mahi River
Mahi River originates in Minda Village, in Madhya Pradesh and flows through Rajasthan, Gujarat and then drains into the Arabian Sea while creating a wide estuary past Bay of Khambhat. A 580 km long river, Mahi river has little prospect in terms of irrigation because the riverbed lies lower than land level. Popularly described as Mahisagar, its shore is dotted with temples and places of worship visited by hundreds of devotees.
Sabarmati River
One of the major rivers in the western India, Sabarmati river originates in Dhebar Lake of Aravalli Hills, in Rajasthan. The river travels through the state of Gujarat for the entirety apart from few initial km. It travels a distance of 371 km before it enters the Arabian Sea through the Gulf Of Cambay. Sabarmati river is also known for the fact that Mahatma Gandhi established his Sabarmati Ashram on the bank of this river!
Luni River
The Luni river is also called as the Salt River because of the high salt content in its water below Balotra, because of the high salt content in the soil. With a length of about 500 km, it is an important source of water and for irrigation in the western Rajasthan, which is mostly arid region. It originates near Ajmer and ends in the Rann Of Kutch, Gujarat.
These are the major western flowing rivers in our country which contribute to the formation of Estuaries instead of Delta because of low silt content found around the area!
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Petrol in India is cheaper than in countries like Hong Kong, Germany and the UK but costlier than in China, Brazil, Japan, the US, Russia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, a Bank of Baroda Economics Research report showed.
Rising fuel prices in India have led to considerable debate on which government, state or central, should be lowering their taxes to keep prices under control.
The rise in fuel prices is mainly due to the global price of crude oil (raw material for making petrol and diesel) going up. Further, a stronger dollar has added to the cost of crude oil.
Amongst comparable countries (per capita wise), prices in India are higher than those in Vietnam, Kenya, Ukraine, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Venezuela. Countries that are major oil producers have much lower prices.
In the report, the Philippines has a comparable petrol price but has a per capita income higher than India by over 50 per cent.
Countries which have a lower per capita income like Kenya, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, and Venezuela have much lower prices of petrol and hence are impacted less than India.
“Therefore there is still a strong case for the government to consider lowering the taxes on fuel to protect the interest of the people,” the report argued.
India is the world’s third-biggest oil consuming and importing nation. It imports 85 per cent of its oil needs and so prices retail fuel at import parity rates.
With the global surge in energy prices, the cost of producing petrol, diesel and other petroleum products also went up for oil companies in India.
They raised petrol and diesel prices by Rs 10 a litre in just over a fortnight beginning March 22 but hit a pause button soon after as the move faced criticism and the opposition parties asked the government to cut taxes instead.
India imports most of its oil from a group of countries called the ‘OPEC +’ (i.e, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Russia, etc), which produces 40% of the world’s crude oil.
As they have the power to dictate fuel supply and prices, their decision of limiting the global supply reduces supply in India, thus raising prices
The government charges about 167% tax (excise) on petrol and 129% on diesel as compared to US (20%), UK (62%), Italy and Germany (65%).
The abominable excise duty is 2/3rd of the cost, and the base price, dealer commission and freight form the rest.
Here is an approximate break-up (in Rs):
a)Base Price | 39 |
b)Freight | 0.34 |
c) Price Charged to Dealers = (a+b) | 39.34 |
d) Excise Duty | 40.17 |
e) Dealer Commission | 4.68 |
f) VAT | 25.35 |
g) Retail Selling Price | 109.54 |
Looked closely, much of the cost of petrol and diesel is due to higher tax rate by govt, specifically excise duty.
So the question is why government is not reducing the prices ?
India, being a developing country, it does require gigantic amount of funding for its infrastructure projects as well as welfare schemes.
However, we as a society is yet to be tax-compliant. Many people evade the direct tax and that’s the reason why govt’s hands are tied. Govt. needs the money to fund various programs and at the same time it is not generating enough revenue from direct taxes.
That’s the reason why, govt is bumping up its revenue through higher indirect taxes such as GST or excise duty as in the case of petrol and diesel.
Direct taxes are progressive as it taxes according to an individuals’ income however indirect tax such as excise duty or GST are regressive in the sense that the poorest of the poor and richest of the rich have to pay the same amount.
Does not matter, if you are an auto-driver or owner of a Mercedes, end of the day both pay the same price for petrol/diesel-that’s why it is regressive in nature.
But unlike direct tax where tax evasion is rampant, indirect tax can not be evaded due to their very nature and as long as huge no of Indians keep evading direct taxes, indirect tax such as excise duty will be difficult for the govt to reduce, because it may reduce the revenue and hamper may programs of the govt.