THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The state government, on its part, has no plans to offer any more reduction in petrol and diesel prices, Finance Minister T M Thomas Isaac indicated in the Assembly on Tuesday. The state government’s sales tax cut of Re 1 on fuel prices, which came into effect on June 1, will entail an annual loss to the state to the tune of Rs 500 crore, Isaac said.
The Finance Minister called for a strong agitation to put pressure on the BJP Government at the Centre to reduce the hiked excise duty. The only solution to the present crisis is for the Centre to slash the hiked excise duty on fuel. That would bring the petrol and diesel prices down to the range of Rs 60 a litre, he said. “Now crude oil prices are down. But the Centre doesn’t want to reduce the tax. Instead, they are asking the oil companies to hike the price to make up,” he said.
Under the BJP Government, the excise duty on petrol had shot up from Rs 9.20 per litre to Rs 19.48 per litre and that on diesel, from Rs 3.46 to Rs15.33 per litre, he said. “It has become a political issue across the country,” he said. The state also remains adamant on its stand that GST compensation should be made applicable to the states if petrol and diesel are brought under the GST regime.
Rs1,000 crore aid for KSRTC
The state government will support the ailing KSRTC with a C1,000-crore financial assistance in the next fiscal also, Finance Minister T M Thomas Isaac said. Replying to questions in the Assembly, he said the government does not intend to provide the KSRTC with any tax concession on fuel in the current scenario. The government had decided to prop up the KSRTC with C1,000 crore assistance this fiscal.