Madhya Pradesh government has increased Re 1 on petrol and diesel. (Representational)

Bhopal:

In view of lockdown’s effect on the economy, the Madhya Pradesh government on Friday made an increase of Re 1 in the current additional cess imposed on petrol and diesel.

The new prices came into effect today, an order by state’s Commercial Taxes department said.

Earlier, the additional cess levied on petrol and diesel was Rs 3.50 and Rs 2 respectively. After the increase, the additional cess on petrol and diesel has gone up to Rs 4.50 and Rs 3 respectively.

The state government is expecting an additional revenue of Rs 200 crore from petrol and Rs 370 crore from diesel annually.

Madhya Pradesh has one of the highest Value Added Tax on fuel in the country.

Last year, the Congress government had increased VAT on diesel, petrol and liquor by 5% to raise additional revenue to cover the losses caused by floods.

The latest increase takes total VAT collection of petrol and diesel to 23% and 33% respectively. 

There are a total 10,443 coronavirus cases reported from the state so far. However, 7,201 patients have been cured so far and active cases stand at 2,802.

At least 440 people have died of the disease so far.