December 28, 2018: In the wake of gradual fall in fuel prices, the state government has decided to hike VAT and Cess on petrol and diesel. The cabinet gave nod to the decision yesterday.
“Responding to the Union government’s appeal to reduce VAT on transport fuel, Tripura government had cut the state taxes by Rs. 2.5 per litre on both petrol and diesel on October 4 last. But, the prices of petrol and diesel have reduced substantially from October to December,” said Education minister Ratan Lal Nath at the civil secretariat today. He elaborated, “The collection of revenue was reduced by Rs. 4 crore following gradual reduction of the fuel prices in the international market during last two months. As a result, the development activities of the state government were being disrupted.
Hence, the council of ministers yesterday decided to hike the VAT on petrol and diesel by Rs. 2.55 and Rs. 2.68 respectively. Besides, the cabinet also decided to increase the cess on both- petrol and diesel by 1 percent each.”
As per the revised VAT and cess, the prices of petrol and diesel would now increase by Rs. 3.20 and Rs. 3.29 respectively. The state government, Nath said, would be able to earn revenue of 33 crore per year.
