The
decision was taken at a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief
Minister Narendra Modi. It comes as an attempt to cushion the
hike in petroleum prices announced by the Centre earlier.
In
a statement released late in the evening, government
spokespersons Ministers Jai Narayan Vyas and Saurabh Patel
said that following the VAT reduction, petrol and diesel will
be cheaper by Rs 1.38 and Re 1, while an LPG cylinder meant
for household use will cost Rs 13.05 less. The hike had made
petrol and diesel dearer by Rs 5.49 and Rs 3.55 per litre and
now these fuels will cost Rs 4.11 and Rs 2.55 more.
They
said the decision was taken “in the interest of the people
of the state”. Now the government will have to incur an
additional burden of Rs 1,450 crore, they added.
“Our
decision reflects the Gujarat government’s concern to
protect people from the insufferable price spiral. The UPA
government has not left anything undone to harm a
well-performing state like Gujarat for keeping its record
books in good shape. While we would take a hit owing to this
decision, the Centre still stands to gain on its levies,”
the ministers said. They alleged it is injustice on the part
of the UPA government to transfer the losses to the state.
According
to the state’s calculations, it would lose Rs 470 crore on
account of reduction in customs and Central excise from the
Central pool, Rs 450 crore by way of additional expenditure as
a consumer of fuels and Rs 530 crore due to the reduction on
duty, taking the total to Rs 1,450 crore.
Steering
committee to take final decision on AMTS fare hike
The
cash-strapped Ahmedabad Municipal Transport Service (AMTS),
which is burdened with an additional daily spending of Rs
63,000 on account of the diesel price hike, will have to wait
for some more time before it announces a fare hike.
