|
The
Andhra Pradesh Government has issued an order providing for
supply of cooking gas to all consumers at the old rate of
about Rs 300. The Congress led state government has told oil
Companies that it would absorb the Rs 50-hike in the price
of each LPG cylinder.
The
government however ruled out any reduction in the Vat rate
on petroleum products, citing financial constraints. At
present, Andhra levies a 33% VAT on petrol, the highest in
the country, and 22.25% on diesel, the second highest after
Gujarat.
Meanwhile,
the BJP led Gujarat government on Tuesday also came out with
relief measures and reduced the Vat on petrol and diesel by
3%.
It
has also cut the Vat on LPG by 4%. Gujarat levies Vat at the
rate of 29.88% on petrol and at 29.13% on diesel.
The
Uttarakhand government too slashed the prices of the two
fuels and cooking gas following a meeting of the state
Cabinet. While petrol and diesel will now be cheaper by 50
paise, LPG cylinders will be less expensive by Rs 12.48 in
the state. After the prices of petroleum products were hiked
last week, petrol costs Rs 51.86 per litre, diesel Rs 37.02
per litre and gas Rs 345.17 per cylinder in Uttarakhand.
The
Himachal Pradesh government on Tuesday ruled out any such
duty cuts as it already levies sales tax at a very low rate.
Following
the UPA government’s decision last Wednesday to increase
prices of fuel, states have been announcing fiscal measures
to provide some relief to end-users. While West Bengal,
Delhi and Kerala were amongst the first to announce such
measures, others including Goa, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, Uttar
Pradesh and Bihar also followed suit soon after.
In
fact the empowered committee of state finance ministers is
now scheduled to meet on June 16 to discuss further fiscal
steps, in the form of duty cuts, to offset the fuel price
hike.
Source
: Financial Express - Bombay, India, dated
11/06/2008
|
