BHOPAL: Petrol and diesel have become costlier in Madhya Pradesh from Friday midnight.
In a late evening development on Friday, the state government decided to hike the VAT on petrol and diesel in the state by five per cent.
While the tax on petrol has been raised from 28% to 33%, the tax on diesel has been raised from 18% to 23%. With this per litre prices of both petrol and diesel will go up by around Rs 3.
According to official sources, the state government intends to earn revenue of Rs 1500 crore in next six months.
This is the second time in two months that the Kamal Nath government has hiked taxes/surcharge on petrol and diesel.
In July also, prices of the twin petrol products had gone up by around Rs 4.5 per litre.
With the latest tax hike, petrol will now be priced Rs 81.66 per litre and diesel Rs 72.96 per litre in the Central Indian state.
The prices of country-made and Indian made foreign liquor have also been raised by five per cent.
The opposition BJP slammed the move. State BJP spokesperson Rajneesh Agrawal questioned what happened to Congress' promise made a year back to lower petrol and diesel prices.