Not Surprised To See Opposition Taking Credit For Centre's Excise Duty Cut On Fuel: Hardeep Singh Puri

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced a cut in excise duty on petrol by Rs 8 per litre, and Rs 6 per litre on diesel on Saturday

Hardeep Singh Puri, minister of petroleum and natural gas, at World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, on Monday.

Source : Getty

New Delhi: Union minister of petroleum and natural gas Hardeep Singh Puri on Monday in a tweet hits out at three state governments from Rajasthan, Maharashtra, and Kerala for taking credit on VAT reduction on petrol and diesel.

Puri, while expressing his disappointment on the Opposition leaders, has said that senior leaders from these three states claiming credit for the actions taken by central government and trying to pass off proportionate reduction in the VAT component due to a cut in central excise announced by Nirmala Sitharaman as their own reduction in VAT.

Not entirely surprised to see senior leaders from Rajasthan, Maharashtra & Kerala claiming credit for the actions taken by Centre & trying to pass off proportionate reduction in the VAT component due to a cut in Central Excise announced by FM, as their own reduction in VAT.

— Hardeep Singh Puri (@HardeepSPuri) May 23, 2022

He said that VAT is charged on the entire selling price, inclusive of central excise. When it is reduced by Rs 8 on petrol and Rs 6 on diesel, the VAT component reduces by a proportionate amount of Rs 2.25 on petrol and Rs 1.17 on diesel. In case of Rajasthan as it charges 31 per cent VAT.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced a cut in excise duty on petrol by Rs 8 per litre, and Rs 6 per litre on diesel on Saturday. As a result, petrol prices have been reduced by Rs 9.5 per litre, while diesel prices have been cut by Rs 7 per litre.

Puri has said the latest excise cut on petrol and diesel prices is in a way are continuations of the November price cuts last year, while adding that the oil marketing companies (OMCs) are doing their part in controlling petrol prices as responsible entities at a time when crude oil rates are very high.