Petrol and diesel price slashed by Rs 5 as the announced Rs 2.50 per litre cut on Thursday. The Centre cut excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 1.50 per litre and asked oil firms to absorb Re 1 a litre of prices. Announcing the steps during a press conference in New Delhi, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley also appealed state governments to reduce VAT on petrol and diesel.
Soon after the announcement, several BJP-ruled states including Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa and Assam announced reduction in VAT which cuts down the petrol, diesel prices rate by at least Rs 5. While according to the media reports, Congress-ruled Karnataka and Left-run Kerala rejected the call for tax rate cut.