Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi on Sunday announced that the Punjab cabinet has decided to reduce petrol prices by ₹10 per litre and diesel by Rs. 5 per litre. This comes after the central government announced a reduction in excise duty on fuel, a day before Diwali earlier this week.

According to the finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal, the effective per litre price of diesel and petrol will be Rs. 85 and Rs. 95 per litre respectively (as effective in Jalandhar), which will be applicable from the mid night. 

He said that on reduction effective VAT on diesel will be 9.92% and on petrol 13.77%. 

With BJP-ruled states announcing reduction following Centre’s excise move, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) in the state earlier questioned the Congress government regarding the reduction in value added tax imposed on petrol and diesel.

“Why is the Punjab government not giving relief to people by reducing VAT on fuel?,” BJP Punjab chief Ashwani Sharma on Saturday questioned the Channi government. “All states have reduced the prices of fuel. But this government has done nothing so far,” former chief minister and SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal said, according to a PTI report. He earlier on Saturday demanded that the government reduce prices by ₹10.

The BJP earlier this week attacked state governments ruled by the opposition parties like the Congress and the Trinamool Congress for not reducing the VAT on petrol and diesel soon after the announcement was made by the Centre. A report by news agency PTI said that BJP and its partner-ruled states saw steeper reductions in petrol and diesel prices compared to Delhi, Maharashtra, West Bengal and other states which are governed by other parties.

Which states have reduced VAT?

Karnataka, Puducherry, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Nagaland, Tripura, Assam, Sikkim, Bihar Goa, Gujarat, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, Chandigarh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Meghalaya, Ladakh, Punjab and Madhya Pradesh

Which states have not yet reduced VAT?

Delhi, West Bengal, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Tamil Nadu

Petrol was costliest in Rajasthan at ₹111.10 per litre, this was followed by Mumbai where petrol cost ₹109.98 and Andhra Pradesh where petrol price ₹109.05.

(with inputs from PTI)