New Delhi: India's Finance Minister on Thursday said that she is in 'Dharam Sankat' (dilemma) and would not be able to tell when the fuel prices would be cut. Finance Minister's remarks came after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor earlier in the day urged the central and the state governments to cut fuel prices.
"I will not be able to say when.. it is a 'Dharam Sankat' (dilemma). It is not just cess, but it is excise duty of the center, VAT of states. There is just no hiding the fact that there is revenue is there (In fuel prices)," said Finance Minister while replying to a query on when fuel prices will be reduced at IIMA JSW-SPP Institute Lecture in Ahmedabad on Thursday evening.
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://news.abplive.com/business/rbi-guv-says-high-fuel-prices-impacting-manufacturing-transport-and-other-sectors-1445849">#WATCH</a> | "I won't be able to say 'when'.. it is a ‘dharam sankat’ (dilemma)...," says Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Ahmedabad, after being asked when would the Central Government reduce fuel prices <a >pic.twitter.com/Mnpn76I2xR</a></p>— ANI (@ANI) <a >February 25, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
"Whatever the center earns, 40% of that again goes to states. It's not just me, you ask any state. There's revenue there. It is not competitive when consumers will have to bear the cost and pay more. The center and states will have to talk, and I concede that's where action has to be, let's see what we can do."
A liter of petrol without excise duty and VAT costs Rs 32.10 in Delhi, the excise duty of 32.90 and VAT of Rs 20.61 and dealer commission of Rs 3.68 takes the petrol price per liter to Rs 89.29. Similarly, a liter of diesel in Delhi costs Rs 33.46 a liter, and with excise duty, VAT, and dealer commission, the price jumps to Rs 79.7 a liter.
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Advising the central and the state governments to cut taxes, Das earlier in the day said, there is a need for coordinated action by the Center and States to reduce taxes because both of them levy indirect taxes.
"We realize that the States and Center have their revenue pressures and require high sums of money to enable the country and people to overcome COVID stress," Das said while speaking at the 185th Foundation Day Celebration of the industry body Bombay Chamber of Commerce (BCC).
Das said that he was confident that states and the Centre will take a favorable decision in a coordinated manner.