New Delhi: A day after the Centre slashed excise duties on petrol and diesel by Rs 8 and Rs 6 per litre respectively, the Shiv Sena-led Maharashtra government on Sunday announced to reduce the VAT on petrol by Rs 2.08 per litre and diesel by Rs 1.44 per litre. On Saturday, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a cut in excise duty. An excise duty reduction of Rs 8 and Rs 6 per litre, on petrol and diesel respectively was announced, leading to the petrol price drop by Rs 9.5 per litre and of diesel by Rs 7 per litre.
Taking to the Twitter handle, Sitharaman wrote, “I wish to exhort all state governments, especially the states where reduction wasn’t done during the last round (November 2021), to also implement a similar cut and give relief to the common man.”
According to a report by news agency PTI, a statement issued by the Maharashtra government said that the state exchequer will have to bear an annual loss of Rs 2,500 crore as a result of the decision to reduce VAT on petrol and diesel.
After reducing the VAT on petrol and diesel, the revenue from petrol will reduce by Rs 80 crore per month and that from diesel will drop by Rs 125 crore per month.
Earlier in the day, the Rajasthan government cut VAT on petrol by Rs 2.48 per litre and Rs 1.16 per litre on diesel, chief minister Ashok Gehlot had tweeted.
Meanwhile, Kerala finance minister KN Balagopal said that the government had no plans to reduce sales tax on fuel as of now. This comes after the government had announced to cut tax on petrol by Rs 2.41 per litre and on diesel by Rs 1.36 per litre.
However, the Opposition said that the state has not increased fuel tax over the last six years and therefore, it was not possible for the government to reduce the tax at this juncture.