NDA States rush to cut tax on petro products; Opposition States yet to follow suit

The 12 States and UTs that have not cut the VAT on petrol and diesel are Maharashtra, Chattisgarh, Punjab Rajasthan, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, National Capital Territory of Delhi, Meghalaya and Andaman and Nicobar, writes Krishnanand Tripathi, Deputy News Editor, ETV Bharat.

New Delhi:Following the poll debacle in recently concluded by-polls, the Centre and 23 States have reduced their taxes and duties on petrol and diesel by Friday evening, leaving 12 States, mostly ruled by Congress, its allies and other non-NDA parties, showed the data shared by the ministry of petroleum and natural gas.

The 12 States and UTs that have not cut the VAT on petrol and diesel are Maharashtra, Chattisgarh, Punjab Rajasthan, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, National Capital Territory of Delhi, Meghalaya and Andaman and Nicobar.

Among the 23 States and UTs that have reduced the VAT on petrol and diesel subsequent to the Centre’s decision to cut the excise duty, the maximum reduction in the petrol prices has been noticed in Ladakh (Rs 13.43 per litre), Karnataka (Rs 13.35 per litre) and Puducherry (12.85 per litre).

In case of diesel prices, again these 3 States and UTs account for the maximum reduction in the prices as they supplemented the Centre’s effort to reduce the tax burden on petrol and diesel. Following the tax and duty cut at the Centre and State level, the price of diesel has come down by Rs 19.61 per litre in Ladakh followed by Karnataka (Rs 19.49 per litre) and by Rs 19.08 litre in Puducherry, giving some relief to the consumers in these States and UTs.

Following the poll debacle in recently concluded assembly polls in 11 States and UTs, and in 3 states where bypolls were conducted for Lok Sabha seats, the Centre decided to cut the excise duty on petrol by Rs 5 per litre and Rs 10 litre on diesel.

In Himachal Pradesh, the ruling BJP government lost all 3 assembly seats and one Lok Sabha seat that went to the polls. Chief Minister Jairam Thakur blamed inflation for the defeat. Economists and the Reserve Bank have also expressed concerns that high prices of petrol and diesel were feeding into general inflation.

The opposition has relentlessly targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government for the record high prices of petrol and diesel as the Centre had refused to cut the excise duty on petrol and diesel before the bypoll results. In addition to 22 States and UTs that had cut VAT on petrol and diesel, Odisha and Meghalaya also slashed VAT on Petrol and Diesel on Friday. While Meghalaya government reduced the VAT on petrol from 20% to 13.5% and from 12% to 5% per litre on diesel, Odisha announced a 4% reduction in VAT on petrol and diesel.