Bhopal, Oct 13 (PTI) The Madhya Pradesh government todayreduced the value-added tax (VAT) on petrol and diesel by 3and 5 per cent, respectively.
The state government also withdrew the additional cessof Rs 1.50 per litre on diesel.
Notably, the BJP-ruled Gujarat and Maharashtra stateshad also earlier this week reduced the VAT on these fuels.
"The Madhya Pradesh government has decided to reduceVAT on petrol by 3 per cent. The VAT on diesel is reduced by 5per cent. Moreover, the additional cess of Rs 1.50 per litrehas also been withdrawn," state Finance Minister JayantMalaiya announced after a meeting with Chief Minister ShivrajSingh Chouhan.
The revised rates will be applicable from midnighttoday, he said.
"Now, the VAT on petrol has been reduced to 28 percent from 31 per cent and on diesel to 22 per cent from 27 percent," the minister said.
Following the rate cut, the petrol will be cheaper byabout Rs 1.70 per litre and diesel by about Rs 4 per litre inthe state, Malaiya said.
The decision would cause a revenue loss of about Rs1,000 crore to the state exchequer in the remaining six monthsof the current fiscal, he said.
The chief minister said the decision to cut the VAT wastaken in the interest of the public.
"The decision to cut the prices was taken to providerelief to the common man, besides keeping the needs of farmersin mind. The diesel price cut would also reduce the freightrates which would further bring down the prices ofcommodities," Chouhan said.
However, state Congress spokesman Pankaj Chaturvedi saidthe government's move to cut the prices was just an "eyewash".
"Going by the crude oil prices in global market, thepetrol price should be less than Rs 50 per litre. Thisreduction hardly means anything. The fuel prices should bedrastically slashed," Chaturvedi said. PTI ADU MAS GKANU.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.