Petrol prices hit four- year high in Delhi today. Petrol and Diesel prices continue to rise. The price of petrol in Mumbai stayed beyond Rs 81 , here it was sold at Rs 81.17 per litre today – 15 paise more expensive than the previous day.
Answering to a question in Parliament, Dharmendra Pradhan stated that since the Centre’s decision to cut excise duty in October 2017, only four states and a Union Territory have slashed out sales tax or VAT on petrol and diesel.
Announcing for an excise duty cut in October, the Centre had asked the states to follow the step by announcing an equal reduction in sales tax or VAT to give the aam aadmi some respite from high petrol and diesel prices. But most of the states have neglected heed to Centre’s advice.
Pradhan, in one of his written reply as posted on the Lok Sabha website , also emphasised that the prices of petrol and diesel were freed from administrative control from June 26, 2010 and October 10, 2014 which hardly affected the users.
The government has also blamed various states for increasing VAT and therefore it has put up examples of states like Kerala where VAT has gone up from 26 per cent to 34 per cent and Delhi where it has gone from 20 per cent to 27 per cent on petrol. Subsequently, the oil minister has made efforts to lessen it.