LPG price cut by Rs 16

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posted on 13 years ago — updated on 1 second ago

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BHUBANESWAR: LPG cylinder will cost nearly `16 less and kerosene will be cheaper by 60 paise following the State Government's deci..

BHUBANESWAR: LPG cylinder will cost nearly `16 less and kerosene will be cheaper by 60 paise following the State Government's decision to waive 4 per cent Value Added Tax. However, the Government refused to lower tax on diesel. The decision to completely withdraw VAT on LPG and kerosene will put a burden of Rs 50 crore on the State exchequer. The Centre had recently hiked LPG price by Rs 50 per cylinder and kerosene by Rs 2 per litre.
After nationwide protests, the Centre had asked the State governments to withdraw VAT on these items to reduce prices to some extent. The State Government had on Monday rejected the Centre's advice to withdraw VAT on these items. Finance Minister Prafulla Chandra Ghadei had said that there is no justification in Centre advising the States to waive VAT. But Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday announced the Government's decision to waive VAT. "As a measure of relief to the people of the State, we have decided that VAT will be completely waived on LPG and PDS kerosene," Naveen said.

He said this is the maximum possible relief the State Government could give on these products and noted that the recent hike in prices of petroleum products had come as a blow to the people, particularly to the middle and poorer classes.

The Chief Minister urged the Centre to reduce the diesel prices so as to give some relief to the common man.