E-Paper
Uttar Pradesh cabinet approves hike in petrol, diesel and liquor prices
Covid-hit revenue: The government hopes to earn an additional Rs 4,429 crore in 2020-2021 through the price hike.
The Uttar Pradesh cabinet on Wednesday approved proposals making petrol, diesel and liquor costlier, through which the government hopes to earn an additional Rs 4,429 crore in 2020-2021.
Chief minister Yogi Adityanath presided over the cabinet meeting held via video conferencing.
Briefing media persons, minister for finance and medical education Suresh Khanna said the state government’s revenue has declined considerably due to the fight against Covid-19 and it was able to earn only Rs 2012.66 crore against a target of Rs 13,590.97 crore for April 2020.
Khanna, who heads a committee constituted to mobilise additional resources, said prices of petrol will go up by Rs 2 per litre while diesel will be costlier by Re 1 per litre.
He said the state government would get an additional Rs 2,079 crore by the decision to increase VAT on petrol and diesel. An additional Rs 2,350 crore would be earned by the increase in prices of liquor, Khanna said.
He said the increase in prices will be effective from Wednesday/Thursday midnight. He said prices of petrol would go up from Rs 71.91 per litre to Rs 73.91 per litre while diesel prices will go up from Rs 62.86 per litre to Rs 63.86 per litre.
Khanna said the cabinet also approved a proposal to make liquor costlier by Rs 5 per bottle in case of country made liquor to Rs 400 per bottle (of more than 500 ml) in the case of imported brands of foreign liquor.
He said the closure of liquor shops led to a flourishing trade of illicit liquor with 80,020 litres of illicit liquor seized during the lockdown period. He said three persons died in Modinagar, in Ghaziabad, after consuming sanitiser while three deaths were reported following consumption of illicit liquor in Kanpur.
Khanna said under the Indian Made Foreign Liquor’s (IMFL) cheaper brands in economy and medium categories prices will go up by Rs 10 for 180 ml bottle, Rs 20 for 180 ml to 500 ml bottle and Rs 30 for more than 500 ml bottle.
For brands of regular and premium categories an additional Rs 20 will be charged on 180 ml bottle, Rs 30 on 180 ml to 500 ml bottle and Rs 50 on more than 500 ml bottle.
For imported liquor Rs 100 extra will be charged on 180 ml bottle while Rs 200 additional amount will be charged on 180 ml to 500 ml bottle. An additional Rs 400 will be charged on more than 500 ml of imported liquor.
