As Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off higher fuel prices in several opposition-ruled states, including Rajasthan, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Wednesday said the PM “incorrectly mentioned Jaipur instead of saying Bhopal” because of BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh. The price of petrol and diesel is high.
The Congress leader also said that the Rajasthan government reduced VAT on diesel and petrol on three occasions, resulting in an annual revenue loss of around Rs 6,300 crore, but the PM paid only Rs 6,000 crore for Karnataka and Rs 3500-4000 crore for Gujarat. Revenue loss of Rs. (both states ruled by BJP)”.
He claimed that the Center has earned around Rs 26 lakh crore from excise duty in eight years, which, he said, is the highest amount earned by any government in the country’s history by taxing petrol and diesel.
He said that the PM talked about VAT levied by the states, but did not give information about the excise duty of the central government. In a meeting with Chief Ministers earlier in the day, the PM had urged the states to reduce VAT for the benefit of the people. He mentioned the names of cities including Jaipur and the cost of fuel there. After the review meeting, the CM said that Modi alleged that the central government reduced excise duty but many states did not reduce VAT, which did not bring relief to the people.
“PM took the name of Jaipur but wanted to give the message only to BJP ruled states because even today the prices of petrol and diesel in Bhopal are higher than in Jaipur. Perhaps instead of saying Bhopal by mistake, he referred to Jaipur.”
Gehlot said the Rajasthan government had reduced VAT on petrol and diesel by two per cent on January 29, 2021, while the Center had not reduced excise duty at that time.
“Two days later in the Budget 2021-22, the Government of India imposed a new cess of Rs 4 per liter on diesel and Rs 2.5 per liter on petrol in the name of agricultural infrastructure and development, due to which the people of Rajasthan could not get it. Benefit of 2 percent reduction in VAT
“On 4 November 2021, the central government reduced excise duty on petrol by Rs 5 and diesel by Rs 10 per liter, while in May 2020, during the lockdown, the government reduced excise duty on petrol by Rs 10 and diesel by Rs 13. had increased. per litre, which means that the amount of excise duty in Kovid was not even completely reduced, he said.
He said that the VAT of the states is levied on the excise duty of the Central, so reducing the excise duty automatically reduces the VAT. For this reason, due to reduction in excise duty on November 4, 2021, the Rajasthan government’s VAT on petrol was automatically reduced by Rs 1.80 per liter and on diesel by Rs 2.60 per liter.
“To give relief to the common man, the state government on November 17, 2021 reduced VAT on petrol by 4.96 per cent and on diesel by 6.70 per cent. Gehlot said the three-time cut by the state resulted in a revenue loss of around Rs 6,300 crore per year, but the PM only mentioned revenue loss of Rs 6,000 crore for Karnataka and Rs 3500-4000 crore for Gujarat.
He said that Modi probably mentioned these two states in view of the upcoming assembly elections there. “In May 2014, when Modi became the Prime Minister, the excise duty on petrol was Rs 9.20 per liter and on diesel Rs 3.46 per liter, but today the excise duty is Rs 27.90 per liter on petrol and Rs 21.80 per liter on diesel.
He said that during the UPA government, the states used to get their share of excise duty, but now the share of the states has steadily decreased to just a few paise per liter, so the states are forced to increase their VAT. He said that during the tenure of Modi government, the average price of crude oil in the international market has been $ 61 per barrel, yet petrol is being sold at more than Rs 110 and diesel at more than Rs 100 per liter. He said that during the tenure of the UPA government, the price of crude oil was $100 per barrel, but petrol was not allowed to become expensive.
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