Maha cuts VAT on petrol, diesel by Rs 5 and Rs 3 respectively

MUMBAI: The Maharashtra government has decided to reduce the value added tax (VAT) on petrol and diesel by Rs 5 and Rs 3 per litre respectively, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said here on Thursday.

The decision, to be implemented from Thursday midnight, would entail a burden of Rs 6,000 crore on the state exchequer. It will benefit the common man affected by the fuel price hike, Shinde told reporters after a cabinet meeting at the secretariat ‘Mantralaya’. Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis said the decision was part of the Shiv Sena-BJP government’s commitment to people’s welfare.

The Maharashtra government also reversed the previous MVA regime’s decision to stop direct election of village sarpanchs and municipal council/nagar panchayat presidents.

Earlier, the Fadnavis-led state government (which was in power from 2014 to 2019) had allowed direct election of sarpanchs and municipal council presidents, which the MVA dispensation headed by Uddhav Thackeray scrapped in 2020.