Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot yesterday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi perhaps by mistake referred to Jaipur among the places with higher fuel prices and pointed out petrol and diesel are costlier in Bhopal in Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ruled Madhya Pradesh.
The comments came hours after Modi asked states, including Rajasthan, to reduce Value Added Tax (VAT) on fuels at a meeting with chief ministers.
Gehlot said the BJP-led government at the Centre has earned about ₹26 lakh crore from excise duty on fuels in eight years. He said this is the highest any government has earned in the country’s history by taxing petrol and diesel.
Modi said the Centre cut the excise duty but many states did not reduce VAT to provide relief to people.
Gehlot maintained Rajasthan reduced VAT by 2% on petrol and diesel in January 2021 even as the Centre did not reduce the excise duty. He added the Centre imposed a new cess of ₹4 on diesel and ₹2.5 per litre on petrol in the name of agriculture infrastructure and development two days after the state budget (2021-22). Gehlot said due to this, people in Rajasthan could not benefit from the VAT reduction.
