Assam slashes alcohol, fuel rates before polls

Ahead of the upcoming assembly elections due in April/may, the Assam government on Friday announced to bring down prices of petrol and diesel in the state by ₹5 per litre each with effect from Friday midnight, making fuel in the state among the least costly in the country.

Finance minister Himanta Biswa Sarma was presenting a vote-on-account for six months when he told the Assam assembly that the move will result in losses of nearly ₹80 crore per month and ₹1,100 crore annually.

“When the Covid-19 pandemic was at its peak, we had increased taxes on petrol and diesel. With the situation improving and the additional burden on the health sector reducing, the state cabinet has decided to withdraw the additional taxes on these fuels,” he said.

“Effective from Friday midnight, prices of petrol and diesel

GUWAHATI:

will decrease by ₹5 per litre. As a result, Assam will have the record of having the least costly petrol in the country after Gujarat. Even prices of diesel would be the lowest after Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh,” he claimed.

At present, the price of petrol in Assam is ₹90.41/litre.

The reduction will bring down prices of diesel to ₹79.29/ litre from the existing ₹84.29. States like Himachal Pradesh (₹77.89/litre) and Harayana (₹79.07/litre) have prices lower than Assam.

Sarma said that additional taxes of 25% imposed on liquor products during the pandemic will also be withdrawn.

However, the opposition Congress called the reduction in prices a mere roll-back of the additional taxes the state government had levied in the name of Covid. “The government is trying to give an impression that it is doing the public a big favour, which it is not,” Congress leader Debabrata Saikia said.