Petrol, diesel price to be further cheaper as more states slash VAT

Giving further breather to common people, petrol and diesel are likely to become further cheaper in more states. Right after the central government's announcement to cut the excise duty by ₹5 per litre of petrol and ₹10 per litre of diesel, several state governments announced VAT rate cuts bringing down the petrol and diesel prices further. Now, some other states too are joining the bandwagon to reduce their respective VAT rates on fuel.

The latest states to join the bandwagon to reduce VAT rates include Rajasthan and Punjab. Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Tuesday announced that the state government will reduce VAT rates on petrol and diesel. However, he didn't mention how much tax would be slashed.

Punjab too has announced VAT rate reduction on petrol and diesel on Sunday. The state has reduced the VAT rate on petrol by ₹10 per litre and ₹5 per litre on diesel. The new prices came into effect in the state from Monday. With this price cut, petrol now costs in the state ₹95 a litre and diesel retails at ₹83.75 a litre.

Meanwhile, petrol and diesel prices remain steady for the seventh consecutive day across India. Since the excise duty cut announced by the central government earlier this month, right before Diwali, petrol and diesel prices have dropped across India.

This price cut for both petrol and diesel comes as a much-awaited breather for the common people across the country. The incessantly rising petrol and diesel costs were not only impacting motorists but non-motorists as well. While motorists were being forced to shell out extra money for fuel bills, non-motorists too were being forced to pay extra for consumer goods as the transportation sector was heavily impacted by the price hike rally. In 2021 alone, the petrol price has witnessed a surge of ₹21 per litre across India.