Chandigarh, November 7: In a major reprieve to the people across the state, the Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi on Sunday announced to slash the prices of Petrol and Diesel by Rs. 10 and Rs. 5 per litre respectively from midnight today.
Talking to the media persons here at Punjab Bhawan after the Cabinet meeting, CM Channi said that with this decision now Punjab has the lowest petrol rates in the region (except UT Chandigarh) and the rates of Diesel in Punjab are also much lower than Haryana and Rajasthan. With this decision, the rate of VAT on Petrol has been reduced from 27.27% (24.79%+10% surcharge) to 15.15% (13.77%+10% surcharge) and on Diesel from 17.57 % (15.93%+10% surcharge) to 10.91% (9.92%+10% surcharge).
Taking a dig at the BJP led government at Centre, CM Channi said that it is really unfortunate on the part of its leadership to slash the prices of petrol and diesel by Rs.5 and Rs. 10 per litre respectively w.e.f November 4, 2021 thereby cutting down the excise duty, which adversely impacts the income of all states including Punjab having 42% share in the excise duty collected by Centre.
Citing the comparative details of MRPs of diesel and petrol in Punjab and the neighbouring states and UTs, after excise duty and VAT rate cuts, CM Channi mentioned as below:
The Chief Minister said after slashing the VAT on petrol and diesel, the new petrol rate in Punjab from tonight would be Rs.95/litre instead of earlier Rs.105/litre. Likewise, the new diesel rate would be Rs.83.75/litre from tonight instead of Rs.88.75/litre as compared to Delhi, where the prevailing rate of petrol is Rs.104.01/litre and diesel Rs.86.71/litre, respectively.
In order to bring parity in the rates of VAT on petrol and diesel with neighbouring states/UTs and to give a boost to the farmers of Punjab during the upcoming Rabi season and relief to consumers in general, CM Channi said that his government has taken a significant decision of reducing VAT on Petrol and Diesel by Rs. 10 and Rs. 5 respectively from midnight of 7th November and 8th November. Prices of petrol and diesel will thus come down accordingly. The reduction in VAT rates on Petrol and Diesel will result in increase in the consumption, decrease in inflation for the poor and middle classes and boost the overall economic cycle. As a result of this reduction, the rate of petrol in Punjab will be lowest (except Chandigarh) in the region.
Notably, the annual consumption of petrol and diesel as per 2019-20 figures is 1352260 KLs and 3886897 KLs respectively. The reduction in VAT on Petrol and Diesel by Rs. 10 and Rs. 5 respectively, will result in annual loss of Rs. 1352 crores and Rs. 1943 crores on petrol and diesel respectively. This is in addition to estimated annual loss of Rs 684.68 Crores and Rs 172.11 Crores of VAT revenue for petrol and diesel respectively, owing to reduction of Excise Duty by GoI.
