New Delhi, Mar 23 (PTI) The Congress on Monday accused the government of refraining from hiking petrol prices as it had the upcoming assembly polls in sight, a charge rejected by the BJP, which said the government should instead be praised for diversifying its energy sources.

Initiating a debate on the Finance Bill in the Lok Sabha, Congress MP Amar Singh also targeted the government, saying its corporate tax collection is much lower than its income tax collection.

He said even though corporate taxes are lower, high net-worth individuals were investing abroad and not in India.

Singh also alleged that the upcoming five assembly elections were preventing the central government from hiking petroleum prices. The global crude prices have gone up due to the conflict in the Middle East, driving up petrol and diesel prices in many countries.

Hitting back, BJP's Nishikant Dubey said the government should be commended for not hiking prices of petrol and diesel but the Congress was instead questioning it.

Recalling Prime Minister Narendra Modi's statement made in the House earlier in the day, Dubey said that earlier India was procuring oil from 21 countries, but the figure now stands at 41.

The BJP leader said the government has worked for years to ensure energy security, a move which should be appreciated.

He claimed that during previous Congress governments, the Benami Transactions Act and minimum alternate tax were deliberately not implemented to either appease the corporates or to browbeat them into submission.

Participating in the debate, DMK MP Arun Nehru said the government doesn’t follow the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Bill but asks states to have fiscal discipline. "The Centre has no locus standi if they don’t follow the FRBM so that more money is passed to the states." The House should also know about the status of India’s Free Trade Agreements -- the trade volume has increased, but so has the trade deficit, he said.

"The ASEAN FTA has a trade deficit of 10 billion, as of today. The UAE FTA has a trade deficit of USD 26.7 billion, Japan FTA, in 2011, has a trade deficit of 10.8 billion, and South Korea has a trade deficit of 14.72 billion," he pointed out. PTI NAB ASK NAB SKY SKY

Energy security and fiscal discipline dominate Finance Bill debate as parties clash over fuel prices, taxes and trade deficits. Petroleum pricing, corporate tax collection, energy security, fiscal discipline and free trade deficits were raised during the Finance Bill debate. One side alleged that the government was avoiding a petrol and diesel price hike because of upcoming elections and questioned the gap between corporate tax and income tax collections, while the response defended the decision not to raise fuel prices and highlighted diversification of oil sourcing as part of energy security. The debate also criticised earlier enforcement of the Benami Transactions Act and minimum alternate tax, and questioned compliance with fiscal discipline and the trade deficit under free trade agreements.