The
government, however, did not give any reprieve to the LPG
consumers.
With the 2 per cent cut in VAT, the petrol and diesel prices
will not be cheaper by 86 and 64 paisa respectively. Now a
litre of petrol will cost here Rs 50.82 instead of Rs 51.62
after the recent increase. Similarly a litre of diesel will
cost Rs 37.25 instead of Rs 37.76.
The
PLG cylinder will cost Rs 356 after the UPA government
announced a hike of Rs 50 on Wednesday.
Meanwhile,
the impact of the Left parties sponsored shutdown was more
felt in cities like Balasore, Bhadrak, Ganjam, Talcher,
Rourkela, Jajpur, Sambalpur, Cuttack and here. There has been
no report of any untoward incident, the officials said.
Hundreds
of activists of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M)
and the Communist Party of India (CPI) blocked roads in
various cities by burning tyres and squatting on the roads.
The roads were cleared after the activists courted arrest,
police sources said.
“In
Bhubaneswar, the (CPI-M) activists took out at least four
processions shouting slogans against price hike. Hundreds of
activists sat on a railway line,” said party state secretary
Janardan Pati.
Train
services were affected in some places as the protesters sat on
the railway tracks and did not allow trains to ply.
