Petrol, diesel prices today: Fuel rates see sharp fall as VAT cut becomes effective in many states

Petrol and diesel prices became cheaper further across the country on Friday from the shocking rates until Wednesday after many states joined the Centre to cut their taxes on petrol and diesel help bring down rates down from their highest-ever levels. In Delhi, petrol costs Rs 103.97 a litre while the rate of diesel was Rs 86.67 per litre. In Mumbai, petrol can be bought at Rs 109.98 per litre and diesel costs Rs 94.14 for one litre. In Chennai, a litre of petrol is priced at Rs 101.40. On Friday, the price of a litre of diesel was Rs 91.43 per litre. Petrol in Kolkata costs Rs 104.67 per litre while diesel costs Rs 101.56 a litre. While petrol can be bought at Rs 107.23 in Bhopal, which is a cut by Rs 6.27, diesel costs Rs 90.87 per litre. This is the highest-ever reduction in excise duty and rolls back a part of the Rs 13 and Rs 16 per litre increase in taxes on petrol and diesel effected between March 2020 and May 2020 to avoid passing on to consumers the sharp fall in international oil prices. That hike in excise duty had taken central taxes on petrol to their highest level of Rs 32.9 per litre and that on diesel to Rs 31.8 a litre. The statement said states are also being urged to commensurately reduce VAT on petrol and diesel to give relief to consumers. The reduction follows an unrelenting hike in international oil prices pushing pump rates across the country to their highest-ever levels. While petrol is above Rs 100-a-litre-mark in all major cities, diesel has crossed that level in more than one-and-a-half dozen states. Following are the prices of diesel and petrol in a few metros and Tier-II cities in the country: 1. Mumbai Petrol - Rs 109.98 per litre Diesel - Rs 94.14 per litre 2. Delhi Petrol - Rs 103.97 per litre Diesel - Rs 86.67 per litre 3. Chennai Petrol - Rs 101.40 per litre Diesel - Rs 91.43 per litre 4. Kolkata Petrol - Rs 104.67 per litre Diesel - Rs 89.79 per litre 5. Bhopal Petrol - Rs 107.23 per litre Diesel - Rs 90.87 per litre 6. Hyderabad Petrol - Rs 108.20 per litre Diesel - Rs 94.62 per litre 7. Bangaluru Petrol - Rs 100.58 per litre Diesel - Rs 85.01 per litre 8. Guwahati Petrol - Rs 94.58 per litre Diesel - Rs 81.29 per litre 9. Lucknow Petrol - Rs 95.28 per litre Diesel - Rs 86.80 per litre 10. Gandhinagar Petrol - Rs 95.35 per litre Diesel - Rs 89.33 per litre 11. Thiruvananthapuram Petrol - Rs 106.36 per litre Diesel - Rs 93.47 per litre Here is how some of the states cut VAT on fuel and diesel prices: Assam Assam on Wednesday announced a reduction in VAT on petrol and diesel by Rs 7 per litre with immediate effect, hours after the Centre slashed excise duty on fuel. Lauding the step by the Union government, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced the state government’s decision on Twitter. “Heartening to learn Central Govt decision to reduce excise duty on petrol and diesel. In consonance with the decision of Honble PM @narendramodi, I am pleased to announce that Assam Govt will also reduce VAT on petrol and diesel each by Rs 7/- with immediate effect,” he said. On 29 October, Sarma had said the state government was ready to cut its share of taxes on fuel if the high rates continue for a longer period. Buckling under pressure, the Central government cut excise duty on petrol and diesel by a record Rs 5 and Rs 10 per litre to help bring down rates down from their highest-ever levels. On Wednesday, the prices of petrol and diesel in Guwahati were Rs 106.10 and Rs 98.36 per litre, respectively. Himachal Pradesh The Himachal Pradesh government announced on Thursday that Value Added Tax (VAT) on petrol would be reduced by Rs 2 per litre and Rs 4.60 on diesel. Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur said petrol would be cheaper by Rs 12 per litre whereas diesel would also be cheaper by Rs 17 per litre in the state. The Centre on Wednesday had reduced the excise duty on petrol by Rs 5 and that on diesel by Rs 10. In a notification issued here on Thursday, the Himachal Pradesh government has reduced the tax on petrol from 25 per cent or Rs 15.50 per litre to 17.5 per cent or Rs 13.50 per litre. Similarly, it reduced the tax on diesel from 14 per cent or Rs 9 per litre to six percent or Rs 4.40 per litre. Additional Chief Secretary (State Taxes and Excise) Jagdish Chander Sharma said the order would come into force from Thursday midnight. The chief minister thanked the Union government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for reducing the excise duty on petrol and diesel. “This decision of the Union government provided much needed relief to the people of the country,” he added. Jammu and Kashmir A day after the Centre cut excise duty on petrol and diesel, the Jammu and Kashmir government on Thursday reduced their prices by an additional Rs 7 a litre. According to a notification issued by the government, value added tax (VAT) will now be levied at 24 percent on petrol and 16 per cent on diesel in the union territory. The Central government on Wednesday had cut excise duty on petrol and diesel by a record Rs 5 and Rs 10 per litre. The office of the lieutenant governor of Jammu and Kashmir tweeted, “Hon’ble PM @narendramodi Ji has given a great Deepawali gift by announcing reduction in excise duty on Petrol & Diesel. In addition, J&K admin has decided to reduce additional Rs 7 on Petrol & Diesel, thereby reducing Petrol price by Rs 12/litre & Diesel by Rs 17/litre in UT from today.” Nagaland A day after the Centre slashed excise duty on fuel, the Nagaland government on Thursday announced a reduction in the value-added tax (VAT) on petrol and diesel by Rs 7 per litre each. With the cut in Central and state taxes, petrol will be cheaper by Rs 12 per litre and diesel by Rs 17 in the northeastern state. Taking to Twitter, Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio said, “Happy to announce that the government of Nagaland has reduced VAT on diesel and petrol and other motor spirits by Rs 7 per litre, with immediate effect.” A notification, issued by Additional Chief Secretary and Finance Commissioner Sentiyanger Imchen, said the governor of Nagaland is hereby pleased to “reduce the overall incidence of VAT on diesel, petrol and other motor spirit sold within the state by Rs 7 only per litre with reference to the prices prevailing on November 3, 2021”. The price of petrol in the state capital Kohima reduced to Rs 97.47 per litre, and diesel to Rs 81.23. The Centre had, on Wednesday, cut excise duty on petrol and diesel by a record Rs 5 and Rs 10 per litre respectively, a move which has evoked similar response by many states. Odisha A day after the Centre slashed excise duty on fuel, the Odisha government on Thursday announced a reduction of Value Added Tax (VAT) on petrol and diesel by Rs 3 per litre each and its implementation in the coastal state from the midnight of 5 November. Maintaining that the move was aimed at providing relief to common people, who were distressed by the relentless hike in fuel prices, a statement issued by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s office said that the state exchequer will incur an annual loss of Rs 1,400 crore owing to its decision. This would be in addition to the loss of Rs 700 crore the state would face due to the excise duty reduction by the Central government, it said. Overall, the state would lose approximately Rs 2,000 crore annually, the statement underlined. Once the new rates are applicable, diesel price per litre will go below Rs 100, while petrol will be available at a little over Rs 100 per lire, it added. From Saturday, the prices of petrol and diesel will be reduced by Rs 9.60 and Rs 15.80 per litre respectively after the decisions of the central and the state governments are implemented in Odisha. As of Thursday, with the implementation of the Centre’s excise duty cut, petrol costs Rs 104.91 per litre in Odisha and diesel is priced at Rs 94.51 per litre in Bhubaneswar. Puducherry The AINRC-led NDA government in Puducherry on Thursday announced reduction in value added tax (VAT) on petrol and diesel by Rs 7 per litre which came into immediate effect. Chief Minister N Rangasamy said that with the Centre slashing the excise duty on petrol by Rs 5 and on diesel by Rs 10, the territorial government decided to reduce the VAT on the petroleum products by Rs 7. He hoped that this would benefit the public, farmers, industrialists and the transport sector. The VAT on petrol in Puducherry was 23 per cent which led to petrol being sold at Rs 107.79. The VAT has been reduced to 14.55 per cent and the price of petrol per litre here would now be 94.94. A release said that the price of petrol in Karaikal will reduce to 94.69 per litre from Rs 107.52. The release said that in Mahe, an enclave of Puducherry in Kerala, the price of petrol will now be Rs 92.52 from Rs 105.32 per litre. Similarly, in Yanam, the VAT has been brought down to 15.26 percent from 23.70 percent(petrol price per litre at Rs 95.59 from Rs 108.47). The price of diesel has come down by Rs 19.08 per litre in Puducherry, Rs 19.06 in Karaikal, Rs 18.92 in Mahe and Rs 19.11 in Yanam region with the range of VAT now being between 6.91 percent and 8.65 percent. Lt Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan said in a release that the file relating to the reduction in VAT on petrol and diesel decided by the government was approved and the reduced price came into immediate effect. Karnataka The Karnataka government on Thursday issued a notification reducing the price of diesel and petrol by Rs 7 per litre, following a similar reduction of Rs 10 and Rs 5 respectively by the Centre. The state government in a release claimed that Karnataka is the first state to reduce sales tax on petrol and diesel. With this, diesel prices were reduced from Rs 104.50 on November 3 to Rs 85.03, which is a reduction of Rs 19.47. Petrol prices were reduced from Rs 113.93 on November 3 to Rs 100.63, which is a reduction of Rs 13.30, the release said. Karnataka’s share of Sales Tax on Petrol is reduced from 35 to 25.9 percent and that on Diesel has been reduced from 24 to 14.34 per cent, by virtue of today’s notification, it added. Arunachal Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu on Thursday announced that his government has reduced the value-added tax rates on petrol and diesel by 5.5 per cent, a day after the Centre slashed excise duty on fuel. The revised VAT rates would be applicable in the northeastern state from the midnight of 5 November, he said. With the reduction of the Central and state taxes, the price of petrol will be Rs 91.87 per litre, while diesel will be available at Rs 79.83 a litre in the state from the midnight of Friday. “Arunachal Govt (government) is also pleased to announce the reduction of State VAT on petrol from existing 20 per cent to 14.5 per cent and Diesel from 12.5 per cent to 7 per cent. Thank you Hon’ble PM Shri @narendramodi ji for reducing Central Excise duty on Petrol & Diesel on this auspicious (Diwali) day,” Khandu said on Twitter. Petrol will be cheaper by over Rs 10 per litre and diesel by around Rs 15, he said. “Consumers will benefit by Rs 10.20 per litre in petrol and Rs 15.22 per litre in diesel after the relief given both by Centre and State Govt (government), Khandu said on the microblogging site. Mizoram A day after the Centre announced a reduction in Central Excise Duty on fuel, the Mizoram government on Thursday slashed petrol and diesel prices by Rs 7 per litre each, Chief Minister Zoramthanga said. He said the “progressive decision” made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi was conveyed to the state government by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. “Glad to announce that #Mizoram Govt. will reduce VAT on Petrol & Diesel each by Rs. 7/- with immediate effect from today,” the chief minister tweeted. On Thursday, petrol price in state capital Aizawl fell to Rs 101.30 per litre, while diesel is now sold at Rs 86.37 per litre. With inputs from PTI