The Aam Aadmi Party government of Punjab has increased VAT on petrol and diesel. VAT has been increased by 61 paise on petrol and 92 paise on diesel per liter. This decision was taken in the cabinet meeting held today in Chandigarh under the leadership of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann. After the decision, diesel has become more expensive by 92 paise and petrol by 61 paise per liter.
Earlier petrol in Punjab was priced at Rs 97.03 per litre which will now become Rs 97.64 per litre. Similarly diesel which was priced at Rs 87.34 per litre will now cost Rs 88.26 per litre. Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Cheema said that by increasing VAT revenue of Rs 545 crore will be raised. He said that VAT on petrol and diesel in Punjab is less than Himachal, Rajasthan and Haryana. Cheema said that the money that will come from this will be spent on the development of Punjab.
Electricity subsidy of Rs 3 per unit has also been stopped
The Punjab government has given another shock to the people on the inflation front. The government also announced the cancellation of the electricity subsidy scheme started by the previous Congress government in the cabinet meeting. Under this, households with a load of up to seven kilowatts were given a relief of three rupees per unit. The Aam Aadmi Party government has stopped it. However, the scheme of giving 300 units of free electricity to every household will continue as before.
Crores of funds are stuck in the center
The decision to cancel the power subsidy scheme along with the hike in fuel prices is being seen as a strategy of the Punjab government to deal with the financial difficulties caused by the reduction in central funding. The central government has not yet released the rural development fund and other funds of Punjab, due to which development work is getting affected. Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann himself has criticized the BJP government at the Center several times for not releasing these funds.
