The Rajasthan government has decided to reduce VAT on petrol and diesel. After this decision, petrol will be cheaper by Rs 4 and diesel by Rs 5 per litre in Rajasthan too. The new rates will be applicable from midnight on Tuesday. This decision was taken in the cabinet meeting.
“Today in the cabinet meeting, it was unanimously decided to reduce the rate of VAT on petrol/diesel. After this, from 12 o’clock tonight, there will be a reduction of Rs 4 per litre on petrol and Rs 5 per litre on diesel. According to Gehlot, the state government will lose Rs 3500 crore annual revenue due to this move,” Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot tweeted after the meeting.
Notably, after the recent reduction in excise duty on petrol and diesel by the central government, there was pressure on the state government to reduce VAT. The main opposition BJP was constantly targeting the state government for its demand for reduction in VAT.
After the reduction of excise duty on petrol and diesel by the central government, many states have reduced VAT. These states and union territories include Karnataka, Puducherry, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Nagaland, Tripura, Assam, Sikkim, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Goa, Gujarat, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, Chandigarh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Ladakh. However, non-BJP ruled states like Maharashtra, West Bengal and Delhi have not reduced the VAT yet.
Significantly, crude oil has become cheaper in foreign markets for the third consecutive week. According to the news agency Reuters, Brent crude prices had crossed $85 per barrel, which has now fallen below $81 per barrel. At the same time, the rise in the US dollar is also putting pressure on crude oil prices. In the coming days, the US government may increase the supply from the Strategic Crude Reserve. There is constant discussion on the supply of petrol and diesel at the global level.
