New Delhi: As fuel prices are touching new records every day with Petrol hitting Rs 82.06 per litre mark in the capital and almost Rs 90 mark in Mumbai, Karnataka Government has given some relief by reducing Rs 2 per litre on petrol as well as diesel.
In Maharashtra, the petrol prices have crossed Rs 90 mark in as many as 11 cities.
Earlier, Rajasthan, Bengal and Andhra Pradesh also reduced the fuel prices by Rs 2.5, Re 1 and Rs 2 per litre respectively.
While announcing the reduction, HD Kumaraswamy, Chief Minister of Karnataka said, “Everyday fuel prices are increasing. People of Karnataka felt that the state government can reduce the prices of fuel by reducing the taxes. I want to announce from Kalburgi that the coalition government has decided to cut down the taxes for petrol and diesel minimum by 2 rupees. I hope this step taken by our coalition government will give some relief to the people of Karnataka,”
Whereas, Yog Guru, Baba Ramdev said that if the government allows him and gives him relief in tax then he can sell the petrol and diesel at Rs 35-40 per litre. Ramdev also batted for bringing petrol and diesel under the GST and that too in the lowest slab, not in the 28 per cent slab.
He also questioned the government’s intent on not reducing the excise duty and said that if there will be a loss in the revenues, will the country stop functioning; rather this loss can be recovered by taxing rich people.
In nine instalments, between November 2014 and January 2016, the excise duty has been raised by Rs 11.77 per litre on petrol and Rs 13.47 per litre on diesel by the Central government to shore up finances as global oil prices fell.
The petrol and diesel prices have gone up by 15.4 per cent and 22 per cent since the starting of 2018.
The Central Government is facing a lot of criticism for not reducing the excise duty on the heavily taxed petrol and diesel.
Fuel prices have been on a rise since mid-August, rising almost every day due to a combination of a drop in rupee value against the US dollar and the rise in crude oil prices.
