Blame game over fuel price in Kerala

Kerala is witnessing a row over fuel tax cuts, with the Left Front government claiming that it reduced the tax in the state, while the Opposition Congress alleged that it is a natural cut after a reduction by the Centre.

Finance Minister K N Balagopal, who was accused of misleading the people by stating that the state also reduced the taxes, has now turned the ire to the Centre by blaming it for a hike in fuel price within hours after the state announced a cut.

The Centre on Saturday decided to cut excise duty on petrol by Rs 8 per litre and diesel by Rs 6 per litre. Subsequently, the Kerala finance minister announced that the state also decided to reduce the tax on petrol and diesel by Rs 2.41 and Rs 1.36, respectively.

Also Read | Kerala announces cut in state tax on petrol by Rs 2.41, diesel by Rs 1.36

However, the Opposition parties alleged that the tax reduction was only proportionate to the decrease by the Centre.

Opposition leader V D Satheesan also said that the state government received additional revenue of around Rs 6,000 crore over the last four years owing to a proportionate increase in tax amount with the fuel price hike.

On Monday, the finance minister came out with a statement accusing the Centre of hiking the prices on the same day when the state announced a tax cut.

He said that with the cut of Rs 8 in central tax and Rs 2.41 in state tax, the petrol price in Kerala was expected to come down by Rs 10.41 by Sunday. However, it came down only by Rs 9.40, due to the hike in petrol price by 79 paise. If this trend continued, he flayed the fuel price would again go back to the pre-tax cut rate in a month.