Gujarat reduces VAT on fuel by Rs 2.5 per litre

 Within hours of the Centre announcing a cut in fuel prices, the Gujarat government on Wednesday followed suit by announcing a matching tax cut of Rs 2.5 per litre in the prices of petrol and diesel.

Gujarat Chief Minister VIjay Rupani announced in Twitter, "...reciprocating positively to FM's announcement, the Govt of Gujarat has also decided to reduce Rs 2.50 on both petrol & diesel. Thus petrol & diesel would be Rs 5 cheaper in the state of Gujarat."

Earlier in the day, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had announced a Rs 1.5 per litre reduction in excise duty and Re 1 per litre reduction by oil marketing companies, adding up to a total of Rs 2.5 per litre reduction on auto fuels by the Centre.

Later, Gujarat Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel told reporters that the state had decided to reduce value-added tax (VAT) on the auto fuels effective Thursday midnight.

"We had earlier reduced VAT (value added tax) by 4 per cent in 2017. Currently, the VAT on petrol in the state stands at 20 per cent," Patel said.

He added that this would pose a burden of Rs 1,800 crore to Rs 2,000 crore on the state exchequer.
- IANS