AP slashes petro prices by 2/litre

Amaravati: In a major relief to the people of Andhra Pradesh, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Monday announced a cut of Rs 2 in the price of diesel and petrol per litre. The relief would come into effect from Monday midnight.

Interestingly, Naidu announced the cut on the day when the Congress called a nation-wide bandh protesting the steep rise in the prices of both petrol and diesel.

The cut would be in the Value Added Tax (VAT) levied on fuel sold in the outlets by the state government. It is equal to half of Rs 4 per litre VAT that the state has been imposing on fuel sold in the state. 

The Chief Minister, introducing a resolution in the Assembly to this effect, said the decision to cut the price was taken in view of the prices hitting an all-time high causing severe hardship to the people. The cut of Rs 2 per litre on petrol and diesel would mean a loss of Rs 1,120 crore of VAT per annum to the state exchequer.

The Chief Minister took exception to Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s statement that the price rise was on account of hike in the prices of petroleum products in the international market and increase in VAT by the state government. “His statement is misleading and is far from truth,” he said.

Naidu recalled that when the price of crude per barrel was at US $ 105.52 in 2013-14, the petrol price in India was Rs 49.60 per litre and when the price of crude went down to US $72.23 now, price of petrol went up to Rs 86.71 which is a paradox. 

The Chief Minister said that the excise duty on diesel per litre stands at Rs 3.56 during 2014 which went up to Rs 17.33 now. The excise duty on petrol per litre stood at Rs 9.48 during 2014 against Rs 19.48 now. In addition, the Central government had imposed an additional burden of Rs 7 on petrol and Rs 8 on diesel in the name of Road Cess. 

He said the Central government had collected Rs 10 lakh crore during the last four and half years in the name of excise duty from people. In addition to that, it had collected another Rs 13 lakh crore as income tax and dividends. The total collection of taxes including excise duty, income tax and dividends stood at more than Rs 23 lakh crore, he explained.

The Chief Minister demanded that the Centre should reduce the petrol and diesel prices immediately to protect the interests of people at large. 
Naidu utilised the occasion to lash out at the YSRC president YS Jaganmohan Reddy for not taking a stand on petrol prices.

Lambasting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the CM said the former had failed in protecting Indian economy.  The resolution was also adopted in the Legislative Council where Finance Minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu introduced it.