Bring down tax on petrol, diesel: Haryana MLA

CHANDIGARH: Haryana MLA and AICC in-charge of communications Randeep Singh Surjewala on Sunday asked the BJP government at the Centre and state to lower the tax on petrol and diesel and bring it under the purview of the goods and services tax.

In a statement issued on Sunday, Surjewala blamed the central and state governments for the sky rocketing prices of petrol and diesel.

He said that despite the international prices of crude oil being half as compared to what it was during the tenure of the UPA government, people of the country and the region are being forced to pay much higher prices of petrol and diesel.

During the last three and a half years, the BJP has increased the central excise duty 11 times by 133 % on petrol and 400% on diesel, he said.

Surjewala said that the BJP government in Haryana increased the Value Added Tax (VAT) on petrol and diesel, increasing the 21% VAT to 26% on petrol and almost doubling the VAT on diesel from 9.24% to 17.22%.

In 2013-14, the Haryana government had earned ₹4,591 crore as VAT on petrol and diesel while the present BJP government taxed the people to garner ₹7,000 crore in 2016-17 for the same, he claimed.

Referring to the official figures, Surjewala said that despite the average prices being halved, petrol and diesel in Haryana cost ₹72.16 and ₹62.74 per litre respectively, while it was ₹71.92 and diesel ₹55.61 during the Congress regime.

Petrol and diesel in Haryana was cheaper than most of the other states, but the situation has reversed during the BJP Government, he said.