Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Friday announced to reduce Value Added Tax (VAT) on petrol and diesel and now the cost of these petroleum products will become cheaper by Rs 12 and Rs 17 respectively.
Thakur thanked the Union Government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for reducing the excise duty on petrol by Rs 5 per litre and on diesel by Rs 10 per litre with immediate effect.
He stated that this decision of the Union government had provided much-needed relief to the people of the country.
“The state government has also decided to further reduce VAT on petrol and diesel in the state.
In this way petrol would be cheaper by Rs 12 per litre whereas diesel would also be cheaper by Rs 17 per litre in the state with immediate effect,” he added.
The decision seemed to result of the recent drubbing in the recent bypolls to the Mandi Lok Sabha seat and the assembly segments of Arki, Fatehpur and Jubbal Kotkhai wherein the opposition Congress party secured win on all four seats.
The clean sweep in the bypolls was also the result of rise in the prices of petrol and diesel which had contributed to an increase in inflation of essential commodities.