Petrol, diesel price cut by Rs 5 per litre in Maharashtra: State, centre & oil firms to absorb cost
The prices of petrol and diesel were effectively cut by Rs 5 per litre (Representational Image, Courtesy: therahnuma.com)
In a welcome development for motorists, the Maharashtra government on Thursday announced a reduction in prices of petrol and diesel by Rs 2.50 per litre, which will give consumers in the state a total relief to the tune of Rs 5 a litre.
The announcement was made by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis immediately after the central government announced cut in the prices of petrol and diesel by Rs 2.50 per litre. The state will reduce the sales tax and VAT charged on fuel to reduce prices.
“Maharashtra government also decided to give additional relief of Rs 2.50 per litre on petrol to give a total benefit of Rs 5 per litre in the state of Maharashtra,” Fadnavis tweeted.
Maharashtra Government also decided to give additional relief of ₹2.5/litre on Petrol to give total benefit of ₹5/litre in the State of Maharashtra.
— Devendra Fadnavis (@Dev_Fadnavis) October 4, 2018
Thanking Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union finance minister Arun Jaitley, Fadnavis said the reduction in fuel prices will give a huge relief to citizens.
Earlier, Jaitley announced in Delhi a cut in petrol and diesel prices by Rs 2.50 per litre, factoring in excise duty reduction of Rs 1.50 per litre, to counter the skyrocketing fuel prices. Meanwhile, oil companies will take a hit of Re 1 per litre.
“We will slash excise duty by Rs 1.50, and the OMCs will factor in a decline of Re 1 in their pricing. The central government will extend an immediate relief of Rs 2.50 on both petrol and diesel to the consumers,” Jaitley said during the press conference today.
The move will reduce the central government’s revenue by Rs 10,500 crore this fiscal, but the government is confident of achieving the fiscal deficit target, Jaitley added.
He also asked state governments to follow suit by cutting a sales tax or VAT by a similar amount.
The reduction followed petrol and diesel prices touching new highs. In Mumbai, for example, petrol price touched Rs 91.34, while diesel reached Rs 80.10 today.
Maharashtra’s minister of state for finance Deepak Kesarkar said historically, Maharashtra has always been reducing prices of fuel in accordance with the Centre.
“The government has always remained positive on the issue of reducing fuel prices. We are happy to reduce prices of fuel as much as announced by the Centre,” Kesarkar said.
Apart from Maharashtra, other states like Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, and Tripura also announced a similar reduction in taxes earlier today.
