Petrol, diesel to get costlier in Karnataka as govt hikes sales tax on fuel

Karnataka government on Saturday hiked sales tax on fuel which will make petrol and diesel costlier.

According to official sources, petrol will now go up by Rs 3 and diesel by Rs 3.5 per litre.

In a notification issued by the Finance Department, the government has hiked sales tax on petrol by 3.92 percentage points, from 25.92 to 29.84 per cent.

On diesel, the hike is 4.1 percentage points, from 14.34 to 18.44 per cent.

This notification shall come into force with immediate effect, it said.

The decision comes days after the Lok Sabha poll results, in which NDA got 19 out of 28 seats in Karnataka, with BJP winning 17 and JD(S) with 2. The ruling Congress in the state has won nine seats.

The move, aimed at resource mobilisation, comes after Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who is also the finance minister, reviewed the state's revenue generation and fiscal position.

During the meeting, the CM asked officials to work harder towards meeting revenue collection targets.

According to sources, the hike is expected to generate Rs 2,500-Rs 2,800 crore during the financial year.

Hitting out at the government, Karnataka BJP president B Y Vijayendra urged the chief minister to roll back the hike in petrol and diesel prices, as he threatened a state-wide protest by the party on Monday, at all district centres.

"Faced by defeat in Lok Sabha polls, the chief minister is not ready to accept that the financial situation of the state has deteriorated, but the hike in fuel prices proves it. The government is unable to run the administration because of guarantees, they are unable to get proper resources....The government should withdraw this decision (of fuel price hike)," he said.

Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka Assembly R Ashoka said this "anti-people" Congress government is taking revenge on Kannadigas for voting BJP in the Lok Sabha elections.

"Having emptied the state's coffers with its unscientific guarantee schemes the Congress government in Karnataka is going to fill the treasury by taxing the Kannadigas," he posted on 'X', adding that with this hike the government has "cut" into the public pocket.

Siddaramaiah has set aside Rs 52,009 crore for his government's flagship five guarantee schemes this year.

The Congress government's five guarantee schemes are — 200 units of free power to all households (Gruha Jyoti), Rs 2,000 monthly assistance to the woman head of every family (Gruha Lakshmi), payment of cash-in-lieu of the additional 5 kg of rice to every member of a BPL household (Anna Bhagya), Rs 3,000 every month for unemployed graduate youth and Rs 1,500 for diploma holders for two years (YuvaNidhi), and free travel for women in public transport buses (Shakti)

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