he Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has said that only 25 states and Union Territories (UTs) have so far undertaken commensurate reduction of VAT (value-added tax) on petrol and diesel to give respite to the consumers. The Centre had on November 3 slashed excise duty on petrol by Rs 5 per litre and that on diesel by Rs 10 a litre to give reprieve to consumers and also urged states to commensurately cut VAT to give further relief to consumers.
It a worth mentioning here that a majority of states have announced VAT reduction cut, but some states are yet to announce a tax cut on auto fuels. The petroleum ministry has released the list of the states which are yet to reduce VAT. The states and UTs which have not undertaken any cut in VAT in petrol and diesel are: Maharashtra, NCT of Delhi, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Jharkhand, Chattisgarh and Rajasthan.
In Lakshdweep, the government said, UT government procures Kerala paid VAT petrol and diesel. At present, there is nil tax on petrol and diesel in the UT.
Following the cut in VAT, the price of Petrol has come down most in Punjab by Rs 16.02 per litre, followed by Rs 13.43 in UT of Ladakh and Rs 13.35 in Karnataka.
