Empowered Commt for transparency in petrol acc

New Delhi, June 15: In response to the appeal made by Petroleum Minister Murli Deora to state governments to cut sales tax on petrol and diesel, the Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers on VAT today decided to seek information from the Central government relating to the account of accrual of fuel products before taking a decision in this regard.

''We want information from the Central government on how the basic prices of both petrol and diesel have been determined during the last three years in relation to the movement of international crude prices,'' Empowered Committee Chairman Ashim Dasgupta told reporters after the meeeting here.

The Committee has also asked the Centre to furnish information on the revenue gain to the Union government due to the recent hike in prices of petrol and diesel.

The Cabinet hiked prices of petrol by Rs 4 and diesel Rs 2.

Mr Dasgupta said the Committee also wants to ascertain whether the government plans to bring down excise duty on petroleum products.

The Committee was dismayed at the decision of the Centre to include LPG in the list of 'declared goods' in the Union Budget without consulting the states.

The Empowered Committee Chief described the introduction of the VAT as a ''success story,'' shoring up revenues of state governments which have brought in the new system.

He said revenue collection under VAT have gone up from 14 per cent in the first quarter of last year to 23 per cent in the first two months of the current fiscal.

Mr Dasgupta said that a decision on uniform VAT rate on foodgrains would be taken after a month at the next meeting of the Committee.

UNI