Allow benefits of price cuts to public: Centre to write to CMs

PATNA: The Centre will soon write to the states to bring uniformity in the Value Added Tax (VAT) on oil products so that benefits of price cuts filter down to the masses, Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said today.

"We have cut down the prices of petrol and diesel by around Rs 5 to Rs 5.50 since Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister. It has a straight impact on inflation, but whether the benefits filter down to the public or not depends on the taxes imposed on petroleum products by the state governments," Pradhan told reporters.

"I am going to write to all Chief Ministers to bring uniformity in VAT on petroleum products and keep it under a bandwidth so that benefits of price cuts go down to the public," he said.

The Union Minister was in the state to attend the second death anniversary of veteran BJP leader Kailashpati Mishra.

Pradhan, who is a Rajya Sabha member from Bihar, said states impose varied taxes on petroleum products to shore up their revenues and it depends on their market wisdom to decide whether they keep taxes lower and sell more, or let the prices remain high and sell less.