New Delhi: The Congress-led government in Punjab on Sunday announced a decision to lower the VAT on petrol and diesel making them cheaper by Rs 10 per litre and Rs 5 per litre in the state.
The new rates will be effective from midnight.
This comes after the Union government reduced excise duty on fuel.
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Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi made the announcement while addressing the media after the cabinet meeting.
“We are reducing petrol rate by Rs 10 per litre and diesel rate by Rs 5 per litre from midnight," said CM Channi, as quoted by news agency PTI.
Currently, the petrol and diesel rates in Punjab are Rs 106.20 and Rs 89.83 per litre respectively.
The opposition parties such as Shiromani Akali Dal, Bharatiya Janata Party and the Aam Aadmi Party had been demanding the state government to reduce tax on fuel to provide relief to consumers.
Following the Union government’s decision to reduce central excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 5 and Rs 10 respectively, 22 states/UTs undertook a commensurate reduction of VAT on Petrol and Diesel to give relief to consumers, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas had informed on Friday.
According to the ministry, the most reduction in the Petrol prices was seen in UT of Ladakh, followed by Karnataka and Puducherry. The prices of petrol in these UTs/states have come down by Rs 13.43, Rs 13.35 and Rs12.85, respectively, it stated.
For Diesel, it informed that the most reduction was again undertaken by UT of Ladakh, as the price was brought down by Rs 19.61 per litre there, followed by Karnataka and Puducherry.
(With Agency Inputs)