The decision of the Chhattisgarh government to reduce value-added tax (VAT) on petrol and diesel by one per cent and two per cent respectively has led to effective cut of only around 90 paise per litre for petrol and around Rs 1.45 per litre for diesel, as per the initial calculations of the petroleum dealers.
The opposition BJP targeted the Congress-led state government over “unsubstantial” cut in fuel prices saying people who have been expecting price cuts have been deceived and this is the latest in the series of deceptions by the government.
Abhay Bhansali, secretary of the Raipur Petroleum Dealers Association, told THE WEEK that the current prices of petrol and diesel in Raipur were at Rs 101.88 and Rs 93.78 respectively. The likely prices after VAT reduction will be around Rs 100.78 and Rs 92.33 per litre for petrol and diesel respectively, according to initial calculations.
The decision to reduce VAT was taken at a cabinet meeting held on Monday and a government communique while calling it a “big cut” said the move will lead to a loss of Rs 1,000 crore to the exchequer.
Leader of opposition Dharamlal Kaushik said the people of Chhattisgarh were expecting a big price cut when the government expressed its intention to do so. “But only a minimal price cut was effected, which has caused a huge disappointment to the people. There was expectation that the way Narendra Modi ji reduced the fuel prices by Rs 5 to 10, there will be a similar cut by the state government too. But what is one per cent? It will hardly matter to the prices and therefore people are disappointed. The state government has deceived the people and we can say this is another of the long series of deceptions that the people of Chhattisgarh are subjected to by the government,” Kaushik said in a video statement.
