Petrol, Diesel Prices Cut In 11 States After Centre Reduces Rates By 2.5 Rupees/Litre
Eleven states announced cuts in prices of petrol and diesel on Thursday after the central government slashed excise duty on fuel. Earlier in the day, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced an excise duty cut of Rs 1.5 per litre on petrol and diesel. Further, state-run oil-marketing companies will absorb a cut of Re 1 per litre on petrol and diesel, he said. This has brought down the prices of petrol and diesel by Rs 2.5 per litre. Mr Jaitley then urged the states to follow suit after which seven states announced cuts in petrol and diesel rates.
The 11 states which announced cuts in petrol and diesel prices are Maharshtra, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Tripura, and Gujarat. The price cuts would be effective from midnight tonight.
The reduction in excise duty, only the second in four years of BJP-led NDA rule, will cost the central government a revenue of Rs 10,500 crore in the current fiscal, said Mr Jaitley.
Petrol, diesel price cut in Maharshtra
After the centre's announcement, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced a cut in petrol prices by Rs 2.50 per litre. "Maharashtra government also decided to give additional relief of Rs 2.50 per litre on petrol to give a total benefit of Rs 5 per litre in the state of Maharashtra," Mr Fadnavis tweeted. However, the state did not reduce diesel rates.
Petrol, diesel price cut in Jharkhand
Jharkhand government decided to give an additional relief of Rs 2.5/litre on diesel in the state, Chief Minister Raghubar Das said on Twitter.
Petrol, diesel price cut in Chhattisgarh
Chhattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh announced a cut of Rs 2.50 on both petrol and diesel in the state.
Petrol, diesel price cut in Assam
Assam government also decided to reduce Rs 2.50 on both petrol and diesel, thus making it Rs 5 less than the prevailing rates, said Himanta Biswa Sarma, the state minister of Finance, Health & Family Welfare, PWD, Transformation & Development.
Petrol, diesel price cut in Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath announced a cut of Rs 2.5 per litre on petrol and diesel prices. Mr Adityanath said that the state will take an annual revenue cut of Rs 4,000 crore as it passes on the relief in petrol, diesel rates to consumers.
Petrol, diesel price cut in Gujarat
Gujarat government also decided to reduce petrol, diesel prices by Rs 2.5 per litre. This was announced by Chief Minister of Gujarat Vijay Rupani on Twitter.
Petrol, diesel price cut in Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh also announced a cut of Rs 2.5 per litre in petrol and diesel prices.
Petrol, diesel price cut in Tripura
Tripura also followed suit to cut petrol, diesel prices by Rs 2.5 per litre, according to a report by news agency Indo-Asian News Service (IANS).
Petrol, diesel rate cut in Himachal Pradesh
The Himachal Pradesh government has decided to reduce prices of petrol and diesel by Rs 2.50 per litre, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur said. The state government has decided to reduce the value added tax (VAT) on petrol and diesel to effect a Rs 2.50 per litre reduction in fuel prices in order to facilitate the general public, he was quoted as saying in a report by IANS.
Petrol, diesel price cut in Jammu and Kashmir
"The state government this evening announced matching cut of Rs 2.50 per litre in fuel prices commensurate with the price cut of Rs 2.50, announced by the central government earlier today," an official spokesman was quoted as saying in an IANS report.
Petrol, diesel prices slashed in Haryana
Welcoming the decision of the Central government, Haryana Finance Minister Abhimanyu said the Haryana government has also decided to reduce Value Added Tax (VAT) on petrol and diesel by about Rs 2.50 per litre, reported IANS.
Last month, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh had reduced value added tax (VAT) or sales tax to cushion consumers for a spate of price increases.
Almost half of the fuel price is made up of taxes. The centre currently levies a total of Rs 19.48 per litre of excise duty on petrol and Rs 15.33 per litre on diesel. On top of this, states levy value-added tax (VAT). Before the reduction, Mumbai had the highest VAT of 39.12 per cent on petrol, while Telangana levies the highest VAT of 26 per cent on diesel.
Petrol and diesel prices have been hitting multiple highs every day in many cities. Petrol and diesel rates are decided on a daily basis by oil-marketing companies on the basis of the rupee-dollar rate and global crude oil prices. (With agencies inputs)
