Petrol, diesel prices hiked in Tamil Nadu

A sequel to changes made by the State govt. in tax structure

04/05/2020, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,CHENNAI

The changes have been made in anticipation of a reduction in retail prices to be carried out by the Central authorities.

The prices of petrol and diesel in the State are set to go up by ₹3.25 and ₹2.50 per litre. The hike is a sequel to changes made by the State government in the tax structure for petroleum products that would come into effect from the midnight of Sunday, according to a notification issued by the State government.

The structure of State-level Value Added Tax (VAT) for the petroleum products has been changed from a pure ad valorem tax rate to a combination of quantum and the absolute figure of the tax rates.

In respect of petrol, the structure has been changed from 34% to a sum of 15% and ₹13.02 per litre. Likewise, in the case of diesel, it is the aggregate of 11% and ₹9.62 per litre from 25%.

The changes have been made in anticipation of reduction in retail selling prices to be carried out by the Central authorities in the days to come.

The continuance in the existing rate structure in the event of the reduction would lead to a “steep fall” in the revenue of the State government.

Before the Centre announces the decrease, the State government has tweaked the rate structure so that it can protect its revenue, explained senior officials of the State government, which hopes to get an additional revenue of ₹250 crore a month.

The Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam founder T.T.V. Dhinakaran, in a series of tweets, condemned the decision, which, he said, would hit the poor and the middle class at a time when the prices of essential commodities were on the rise. He has urged the government to roll back the hike.