Uttarakhand has become the fourth state after Gujarat, Maharashtra and Himachal Pradesh to cut VAT on petrol and diesel. The finance minister of the state Prakash Pant announced a 2 percent cut on cess and 2 percent cut on VAT on petrol and diesel.
The finance ministry had recently reduced the excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 2. The centre then urged state governments to reduce sales tax or value-added tax on petrol and diesel by five per cent , so that the consumers across the country can get the benefit of the excise duty reduction.
Gujarat was the first state to reduce VAT by 4 percent and Maharashtra government followed suit slashing VAT bringing down the prices of petrol and diesel by Rs 2 and Rs 1 respectively. Congress-ruled Himachal Pradesh also announced that VAT on petrol and diesel would be cut by 1 percent.