The Maharashtra government on Thursday hiked petrol prices with a surcharge of Rs 2 taking the cost to Rs 76.91 per litre, The Times of India reported. The hike makes the state’s petrol the most expensive in India. The development follows the Union government’s slashing of prices by Rs 2.16 per litre on May 15. The state government increased the fuel’s prices for the second time within a month.
An official notification will be released soon.
The state administration stands to earn an increase of Rs 700 crore in revenue from the latest hike, Hindustan Times reported. The surcharge on diesel prices remains the same. Officials told Hindustan Times that the state government decided to hike petrol prices to balance out the losses from excise duty on liquor and stamp duty on housing transactions.
“With the state government reeling under debt, it used the opportunity to increase VAT after the Union government slashed the petrol and diesel prices recently,” an official told The Times of India.
The Congress party’s state unit criticised the hike. A post on the party’s Twitter account says, “loot continues unabated under the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government in Maharashtra.”
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