Rajasthan cuts VAT on petrol and diesel prices, new rates effective midnight

Jaipur, Nov 16: Rajasthan government on Tuesday decided to reduce the value-added tax (VAT) on petrol and diesel prices by Rs 4 and Rs 5, respectively. The new prices will be effective from the midnight of November 16.

"In the cabinet meeting today, it was unanimously decided to reduce the rate of VAT on petrol and diesel. After this, the rates will be reduced by Rs 4 per litre in petrol and Rs 5 per litre in diesel from 12 o'clock tonight," Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot tweeted.

Due to this, the state government will incur a loss of Rs 3500 crore in annual revenue, he added.

Post the Union government's decision of reducing excise duty on petrol by Rs 5 per litre and that on diesel by Rs 10 a litre, 25 states and UTs have cut VAT to give further reprieve to consumers battered by record-high retail prices.

Poll-bound Punjab has seen the most cut in petrol price of Rs 16.02 a litre, followed by UT of Ladakh with Rs 13.43 a litre and Karnataka (Rs 13.35).

The VAT reduction in Punjab is Rs 11.27 per litre on petrol while in Uttar Pradesh, which will go to polls early next year to elect a new government in the state, the reduction is Rs 6.96. Gujarat has seen Rs 6.82 a litre reduction in VAT while Odisha has cut sales tax by Rs 4.55 and by Rs 3.21 in Bihar.

Diesel has seen the most reduction in Ladakh where rates have come down by Rs 9.52 per litre because of a cut in VAT on top of Rs 10 a litre fall in excise duty. Karnataka has cut VAT by Rs 9.30, followed by Rs 9.02 reduction in Puducherry.