Chandigarh, June 12
The Punjab cabinet, which met here this evening, decided to charge half the rate of taxes on the enhanced price of petrol, diesel and cooking gas (LPG) in the state. The meeting was presided over by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal.
As a result, petrol, diesel and cooking gas will be cheaper in Punjab. On June 4, the Union government had hiked the price of petrol by Rs 5 per litre, diesel by Rs 3 and LPG by Rs 50 per cylinder following a steep rise in the crude oil price in the international market.
Sources, meanwhile, said the decision to cut the tax on enhanced price of petroleum products would be implemented following nod from the state Election Commission, which has enforced the code of conduct in the state owing to municipal elections. They said the cabinet decision would be forwarded to the commission for its approval.
Sources said the commission would be having no problem in giving nod to this decision, as even the leadership of the Congress, the main opposition in the state, had been pressing the state government to reduce the tax on the enhanced price of these products.
Following the increase in the price of these products, the state government was supposed to collect about Rs 150 crore as taxes on the enhanced price per annum. However, now the tax revenue on the enhanced price will come down to Rs 75 crore.
Immediately after the increase in the price of petroleum products, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had asked all states to minimise the burden of price increase by slashing taxes on the enhanced price.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi had also made a similar appeal, and accepting her appeal almost all Congress-ruled states had
slashed the tax.
Though no exact estimate is available, sources said the petrol price, if the commission allowed to implement the decision, would go down by 65 paise per litre and LPG price by Rs 1.10 per cylinder. The diesel price is expected to go down by 15 paise per litre and it will be perhaps lowest in the country.
The existing price of petrol in Punjab is about Rs 55.60 per litre, diesel Rs 34.38 per litre and cooking gas Rs 347 per cylinder.
The cabinet also approved Rs 26,000 per month for chief parliamentary secretaries to take private bunglows on rent. Earlier, there were not proper rules in this regard. The government also gave nod to the Union government’s proposal to change the relevant rules with regard to vacating of official houses by officers. Not vacating official houses by officers and others concerned will be made a criminal offence.
The cabinet also decided on measures to cut down government expenditure in various sectors like buying new vehicles and reducing foreign jaunts of politicians and officers.
