Bhubaneswar: With the Centre slashing excise duty by Rs 8 per litre on petrol and Rs 6 per litre on diesel and the state reducing taxes by Rs 2.23 and Rs 1.36 a litre, the new fuel price from 6 AM of Sunday in Odisha will be Rs 102.25 and Rs 94.86 respectively.
This was estimated by All India Petroleum Dealers Association here. “Though the centre cut the excise duty by Rs 8 per litre of petrol, the actual price reduction in Odisha will be translated into Rs 10.23 per litre,” said association secretary Sanjay Lath.
Similarly, the price of diesel will be less by Rs 7.36 per litre, he said.
Lath said: “On petrol, the central excise duty will be reduced by Rs 8 per litre while the state will automatically forgo another Rs 2.23 per litre on petrol and Rs 1.36 per diesel.
Therefore, the actual reduction will be Rs 10.23 and Rs 7.36 on petrol and diesel respectively.”
The per litre petrol rice remained Rs 112.48 and diesel at Rs 102.22 in Bhubaneswar on Saturday.
Lath said the Centre’s action will certainly bring relief to the people of the country. “If the government would have taken a few days earlier then the price of many things would not have skyrocketed due to the rise in transport cost,” he said.
Leader of the Odisha unit of Samajwadi Party Rabi Behera said “we request the chief minister to reduce VAT on petrol and diesel by Rs 5 per litre to provide more relief to common people.”
“The price cut on petrol and diesel is a big relief for the people who have been fighting against the high rate of inflation, “ said Pramod Mishra, a small-time businessman.
He said the high transportation cost led to soaring prices of almost every essential item including foodstuffs. Tomatoes are selling at Rs 80 and had reached Rs 100 while everything starting from rice, dal to edible oil to vegetables to spices has become unaffordable to many.
PTI