Bhopal: Petrol and diesel prices in Madhya Pradesh shot up by around Rs 4.5 per litre from Saturday, after the State government raised additional duty on these petroleum products by Rs 2, a day after the Centre increased taxes on them. Presenting the Budget for 2019-20, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had on Friday raised excise duty and road and infrastructure cess on the auto fuels by Rs 2 per litre each to raise over Rs 28,000 crore revenue.
State minister Jitu Patwari said, “The state government was forced to take a decision of levying additional tax after the Centre reduced the Madhya Pradesh’s share by Rs 2,677 crore in the central budget presented on Friday.”
The Congress had promised in its poll manifesto ahead of the Assembly election that prices of petrol and diesel will be reduced by Rs five. When asked about the promise, the Minister for Sports and Youth Welfare said, “State’s budget is to be presented only four days from now. The printing of the budget has already started. In this situation, we have to compensate the loss incurred by the sudden reduction of state’s share by the Centre.” With the increase in the central and state taxes, the prices of petrol and diesel have gone up by around Rs 4.5 per litre (depending on cities) in the state.
The minister also questioned the increase in duty on auto fuel by the Centre. “When it was linked to the crude oil prices in international market, why was the duty hiked?” he asked.
Meanwhile, Madhya Pradesh Petrol Pump Owners Association’s president Ajay Singh said that after the hike in excise duty and cess by the centre and levy of additional tax by the state, petrol prices in Bhopal has gone up to Rs 78.14 (on Saturday) from Rs 73.61 per litre (on Friday). Similarly, diesel prices reached Rs 70.06 (on Saturday) from Rs 65.63 per litre (on Friday), he said.