Raipur: Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel on Monday said the reduction in excise duty on petrol and diesel by the Centre will cause a loss of nearly Rs 500 crore to the state exchequer, and added that the Union government should withdraw the cess imposed on these fuels.
“I could not understand the statement of Nirmala Sitharaman ji that reduction on excise duty will not impact state’s share in it. If the central excise is cut, then 41 per cent of its share which goes to the state will be automatically reduced,” Baghel said when asked whether the Chhattisgarh government will reduce the Value Added Tax (VAT) on petrol and diesel
“The revenue collection through VAT (which is levied on ad valorem basis) will also dip automatically. State officials have informed me that we will suffer a loss of around Rs 500 crore (annually),” the CM said.
Sitharaman had said that the Rs 8 a litre cut in excise duty on petrol and Rs 6 reduction on diesel have been done in road and infrastructure cess levied on the two fuels, collection on which was never shared with states. The entire burden of these two duty cuts is borne by the Centre, she had said.