Maharashtra cuts VAT on petrol & diesel prices after Centre slashes excise duty

The Maharashtra government's move comes a day after the Centre reduced the excise duties on petrol and diesel by ₹8 and ₹6 per litre respectively. The reduction in excise duty meant the prices of petrol and diesel dipped by ₹9.5 per litre and ₹7 per litre respectively.

The Maharashtra government on Sunday reduced Value Added Tax (VAT) on petrol and diesel by ₹2.08 per litre and ₹1.44 per litre respectively. The reduction will be implemented with immediate effect, the Maharashtra government statement added. 

The Maharashtra government's move comes a day after the Centre reduced the excise duties on petrol and diesel by ₹8 and ₹6 per litre respectively. The reduction in excise duty meant the prices of petrol and diesel dipped by ₹9.5 per litre and ₹7 per litre respectively. 

While announcing the reduction in excise duties, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said that the move will have a revenue implication of around ₹1 lakh crore per year for the government. 

Soon after the finance minister's announcement, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to Twitter, saying the decisions showed that for his government, it is always people first. 

“Today's decisions, especially the the one relating to a significant drop in petrol and diesel prices will positively impact various sectors, provide relief to our citizens and further ‘Ease of Living’,” the prime minister had tweeted. 

Earlier in the day, The Rajasthan government reduced VAT on petrol by ₹2.48 per litre and ₹1.16 per litre on diesel, chief minister Ashok Gehlot had tweeted.

Maharashtra government has announced to reduced VAT on petrol and diesel.(HT Photo)

On the other hand, Kerala finance minister KN Balagopal said that the government had no plans to cut sales tax levied on fuel. This comes a day after the minister had issued a statement that the government would reduce tax on petrol by ₹2.41 per litre and diesel by ₹1.36 per litre. But the opposition accused the minister of misleading the people. “In the last six years we never increased tax on fuel. The state can’t afford to reduce tax at this juncture," he said.