State to reduce sales tax on petrol

Thiruvananthapuram, June 4 The CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) Government in Kerala has decided to reduce sales tax on petroleum products to relieve the people from the burden of steep hike proposed by the Centre.

However, the percentage of sales tax to be reduced would be decided after holding discussions with the State Finance Minister.

''A decision in this regard will be taken in two days after holding discussions with the Finance Minister,'' Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan told reporters after a Cabinet meeting.

He expressed strong protest against the huge hike in the prices of petroleum products.

The Cabinet also decided to ask the Centre to revise its farm loan waiver programme to benefit all farmers. Presently, the farmers who had repaid the loans till February 2008 would not get the benefits. This meant that the programme would not benefit a majority of the farmers, Mr Achuthanandan said.

Another decision was to build a State Hospitality Institute at Kozhikode to match international standards. The Cabinet also approved Deloitte India Ltd and Consulting Engineering Pvt Ltd as consultants for preparing the project report for Azhikal port and Beypore port respectively.

About the Thiruvananthapuram Golf Club issue, the Chief Minister criticised the judiciary and said the Government would go to the court.

UNI