“Truth Hurts, But Facts Speak for Themselves”, Hardeep Puri Grills Maharashtra Govt for Not Reducing VAT on Fuel
GG News Bureau
New Delhi, 28th April. Union Minister for Petroleum & Natural Gas, Hardeep Singh Puri on Thursday grilled the Maharashtra government over not reducing the Value Added Tax on fuel.
The Petroleum Minister emphasized his stand by underlining that the State government is expected to collect Rs 33,000 crore as fuel taxes this year.
“The truth hurts, but facts speak for themselves. Maharashtra Government has collected Rs 79,412 crore as fuel taxes since 2018 and is expected to collect Rs 33,000 crore this year. (Adding up to a whopping Rs 1,12,757 crore). Why did it not reduce VAT on petrol and diesel to provide relief to people?,” tweeted Union Minister Puri today.
Puri’s statement comes a day after Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray criticized the Centre by saying that the state government cannot be held accountable for the rise in fuel prices.
CM Thackeray said to reporters on Wednesday after attending a meeting with Prime Minister Modi in virtual mode, “Today, in the price of one litre of diesel in Mumbai, Rs 24.38 is for the Centre and Rs 22.37 is for the state. In petrol price, 31.58 paise is central tax and 32.55 paise is state tax. Therefore, it is not a fact that petrol and diesel have become more expensive due to the state.”
The Maharashtra CM added, “Maharashtra collects the highest GST of 15 per cent in the country. Combining both direct taxes and GST, Maharashtra is the number one state in the country.”
Prime Minister Modi, on Wednesday held a COVID-19 review meeting with Chief Ministers of all States and Union Territories.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel were amongst those present in the meeting.
In the meeting, PM Modi asked the States ruled by non-BJP parties to reduce tax (VAT) on fuel. He said that prices of fuel are higher in many opposition-ruled states and advised them to reduce Value Added Tax in “national interest” and as a part of “cooperative federalism” to benefit the common man.
Comments are closed.