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The Andhra Pradesh Government has reduced the VAT on petrol and diesel by Rs 2 per litre, entailing loss of revenue to the extent of ₹1,120 crores. The new rates will come into effect from Tuesday morning.
Making the announcement in the State Assembly at Amaravati on Monday, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said petrol and diesel prices had shot up, placing a great burden on the common man, but the Union government was unmoved. “Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has made it clear that as the crude rates had increased in the international market, there was no option but to raise the rates. But the logic is not convincing. In the past, when the crude rates had gone down, the benefit was not passed on to the consumer,” he said, criticising the policies of the NDA government.
The CM said the Union government should also decrease the excise duty to offer relief to the common consumers. “The Andhra Pradesh government is not in a position, after the bifurcation, to forgo any revenue, but still keeping in mind the common man, we have reduced the VAT by ₹2 per litre. The Centre should follow suit,” he said.
Naidu said the State took part in the Bharat bandh called by the Congress and the left parties, but said that the TDP cadres did not participate in it, to avoid causing inconvenience to the public. However, they participated in the protest programmes to express solidarity and to condemn the policies of the NDA Government, he said.
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