Maharashtra budget: Petrol, diesel to be costlier by Rs 1

Mumbai, Mar 06: Petrol and diesel will be costlier by Rs one per litre in Maharashtra, the state legislature was informed on Friday.

Finance Minister Ajit Pawar in his budget speech announced that VAT on petrol and diesel would be increased by Rs one per litre.

This measure would help the state exchequer garner and additional Rs 1800 crore, the minister said.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Udhav Thackeray has instructed the chief secretary to ensure government funds are deposited only in nationalised banks and not private lenders, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar said on Friday. Pawar, also the finance minister, made the remarks in Thackeray's presence after the former presented the state's budget for 2020-21 in the assembly.

"The CM has instructed the chief secretary and other secretaries to deposit government funds in nationalised banks, particularly ones protected by the Centre," Pawar told reporters outside state legislature building complex here.

Pawar's statements came in the backdrop of controversy over the transfer of salary accounts of the police department to Axis Bank, a private lender, allegedly by the previous BJP government led by Devendra Fadnavis. Fadnavis's wife Amruta holds a senior post in Axis Bank.

The Bombay High Court, on Thursday, sought Fadnavis's response to a petition questioning the transfer of salary accounts of the police department to Axis Bank. A senior official had stated last year that salary accounts of police personnel were with UTI Bank later renamed as Axis Bank -- since 2005, much before Fadnavis became chief minister in 2014.