The Delhi government on Tuesday hiked the Value-Added Tax (VAT) on petrol and diesel, making fuel costlier in the national capital starting today. The VAT was increased to the tune of 3% on petrol (from 27% to 30%) and as much as 13.25% on diesel (from 16.75% to 30%).
This translates to an increase of Rs 1.67 and of Rs 7.10 on petrol and diesel respectively.
Petrol now costs Rs 71.26 per litre and diesel costs Rs 69.39 per litre in Delhi. In the case of petrol, the price includes excise duty of Rs 22.98 per litre and VAT of Rs 16.44 per litre. In the case of diesel, the price includes Rs 18.8 excise duty and a VAT of Rs 16.26 on pet litre of sale.
VAT is now being applied at a uniform 30% on both petrol and diesel in the national capital.
As the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic outbreak continues to spread like wildfire in India, the central and state governments are respectively amping up all of their efforts to check potential contamination. The third phase of the nationwide lockdown began on Monday and the government is presumably attempting to generate revenues from fuel prices and use it for stimulus, as India grapples with a struggling economy.
Earlier yesterday, the Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas, Dharmendra Pradhan, had said that the demand for fuel in India will increase as the government gradually relaxes restrictions on industrial and transport activities in regions that have managed to contain the spread of the coronavirus until now.
The third phase of the nationwide lockdown began on Monday with "considerable relaxations," as the pre-existing quarantine was further extended for the second time by the Ministry of Home Affairs for two weeks beyond May 3. The Centre has eased restrictions in this period, based on the risk profiling of the districts of the country into red (hotspot), green and orange zones.
The guidelines have permitted considerable relaxations in the districts falling in the green and orange zones.
While some states have decided to abide by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs' guidelines to regulate different activities in the red, green, and orange hotspot zones based on risk profiling, some of the other states have decided to modify the pre-existing regulations to allow considerable relaxation. Many states have announced the opening of shops selling non-essential items like clothes, shoes, stationery, paan, cigarettes, and liquor.
However, governments are also keeping in place necessary curbs so as to not lose all the gains that have been achieved in the battle against the virus. As the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic outbreak continues to spread like wildfire in India, the central and state governments are respectively amping up all of their efforts to check potential contamination.
