In a meeting with the Chief Ministers of several states over rising cases of COVID-19, Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged state chief ministers, especially the opposition-ruled states to reduce VAT on petrol and diesel as prices soar amid high crude oil prices.
“In order to reduce the burden of rising petrol and diesel prices, the central government reduced the excise duty last November. We had urged the states too to reduce their taxes. Some states reduced the tax and provided benefits to the consumers but some didn’t do so,” said PM Modi.
Clearly mentioning the opposition-ruled states, PM Modi said, “Maharashtra, West Bengal, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Jharkhand, and Tamil Nadu did not follow the advice of Central Government and people in these states are burdened with price rise.”
He further said, “I request these states to do now what they should have done in November. By reducing the VAT you can lower the burden faced by the residents.”
The central government in November had reduced excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 5 and Rs 10 respectively. Following the Centre’s decision, 25 states and Union Territories, mostly ruled by BJP or their allies had reduced VAT on petrol and diesel to give relief to consumers.