State BJP Demands Cut In VAT On Fuel, Stages Protest In City

Bhubaneswar: Demanding a cut in Value Added Tax (VAT) on fuel rate, the state BJP staged a protest at the Master Canteen Square on Friday.

To control the increasing rate of fuel, state BJP leaders and workers demanded that the Naveen Patnaik-led government should cut the VAT on fuel. They also burnt an effigy of the Chief Minister, Naveen Patnaik.

State BJP vice-president Sameer Mohanty said, “We have been demanding a reduction in the VAT on fuel from the state government. If our demand is not met, we will intensify our agitation to the district and block level also.”

The Union government on Thursday announced a cut of Rs 2.50 per litre on petrol and diesel prices with immediate effect.

To achieve this, excise duty has been reduced by Rs 1.50 per litre and oil marketing companies have been asked to absorb another Re 1.

While addressing the media, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, said the excise duty cut would have an impact of Rs 10,500 crore on the central government’s tax revenues.

“We are taking a number of steps to curb the prices,” he said.

World crude oil prices are at an all-time high, reaching up to US$86 a barrel and interest rates in the US reaching a seven-year high, he added.

He also asked the state governments to reduce the prices by a further Rs 2.50 by cutting sales tax or value added tax.

Fuel prices had touched Rs 82 per litre in Odisha and Rs 90 per litre in Mumbai.