UPA government appeals to Congress led states to cut taxes on petrol

24 May 2012 Evaluate

After hiking the prices of petrol by a record Rs 7.54 a litre, the UPA government has appealed to the Congress led states to cut taxes on petrol. Reacting to the appeal, Kerala government has decided to cut sales tax on petrol by Rs 1.63/litre. The Uttarakhand government has also announced a 25% VAT cut on petrol.

The hike in petrol, which is the third in the past one year, has come after the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister have spoken about need to take ‘tough decisions’. However the hike has evoked sharp reactions from the people at large and also from political parties.

The Industry body Assocham has also stated that the hike will come as a blow to the common man and will not help in reducing the fiscal deficit. The automobile industry too pointed out that the price hike would hurt the sector, which is already reeling under a slowing demand.

However the Finance Minister, Pranab Mukherjee has maintained that since petrol is a deregulated fuel, the decision to increase its price has been taken by the oil companies that are reeling under heavy losses.

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