The Karnataka government has increased the prices of petroleum and diesel in the state by around Rs 3 per litre.
The prices will increase as the Congress government of the state has increased the sales tax from 25.92 per cent to 29.84 per cent on petrol and from 14.3 per cent to 18.4 per cent on diesel, according to the official notification shared by ANI.
Petrol and diesel along with alcohol are among the few goods that are outside of the purview of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and different state governments levy different taxes on these products.
Following the notification, the Moneycontrol quoted Akhila Karnataka Petroleum Dealers Association as saying that the new price of petrol will Rs 102.85 per litre diesel’s price will rise to Rs 88.93 per litre.
The hike in the petrol and diesel has come within weeks of the Lok Sabha election results. The hike has come at a time when the Congress government in the state is under financial pressure over the fulfilment of its five populist promises, which include free travel for women in non-AC public buses, 200 units of free electricity a month, Rs 2,000 a month for women heads of family, 10 kg of food grains a month to below poverty line families, Rs 3,000 a month for two years to unemployed graduates and Rs 1,500 a month for two years to unemployed with diplomas.
These five promises, which the state’s Congress government has dubbed as guarantees, carry an outlay of around Rs 50-60,000 crore, according to Moneycontrol. Amid such compulsions, the rise in petroleum levies would bring in revenues around Rs 2,500-Rs 2,800 crore in this financial year, as per a senior finance department official.
Additionally, the Karnataka government has also hiked other levies, such as imposing additional excise duty on Indian-made liquor (IML) by 20 per cent hiking it on beer from 175 per cent to 185 per cent. The cess on new transport vehicles has also been increased by 3 per cent and a lifetime tax on electric vehicles (EVs) has also been imposed.
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Karnataka govt hikes petrol & diesel prices by Rs 3 per litre
