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  • Rajasthan government will reduce VAT on fuel: CM Ashok Gehlot

    By PTI

    JODHPUR/JAIPUR: Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Tuesday said his government will reduce VAT on fuel like other states, hours after he urged the Centre to further slash excise duty and cited fund crunch caused by the Covid pandemic.

    The Centre on November 3 slashed excise duty on petrol by Rs 5 per litre and on diesel by Rs 10 a litre to give reprieve to consumers battered by record-high retail fuel prices.

    The state government has been under pressure from the opposition over the issue after several states, including Congress-ruled Punjab, cut down the price of petrol and diesel.

    The politics over the issue intensified after the Punjab government claimed in an advertisement that fuel prices there are lower than Delhi, Haryana and Rajasthan.

    “When all states have reduced the prices, we would also have to reduce it,” Gehlot said addressing a progarmme at a Jodhpur village.

    “Our government will also provide relief to people by reducing VAT on petrol and diesel in the state,” he said.

    Still holding the Centre responsible for high fuel prices, Gehlot said the Union government “looted” people by levying massive taxes on fuel.

    “Now, they have provided a meagre relief,” he said, adding that the Centre should further reduce taxes on petrol and diesel.

    Earlier in the day, Gehlot in a statement demanded that the Centre should further reduce excise duty by Rs 10 on petrol and Rs 15 on diesel.

    If the Centre reduces excise duty then automatically VAT in the state will reduce by Rs 3.40 on petrol and Rs 3.90 on diesel. As a result, Rajasthan is ready to bear a revenue loss of Rs 3,500 crore, he said in the statement.

    He said after 2016, the Centre has reduced the state share in excise duty on fuel and states do not get any share from additional or special excise duty charged by it.

    “Increasing excise duty excessively first and then reducing it and simultaneously creating a competitive environment among states to reduce VAT is against the spirit of cooperative federalism,” Gehlot said.

    He said during the coronavirus lockdown, the Centre had increased the excise duty on petrol by Rs 10 and on diesel by Rs 13 per litre.

    Gehlot said in 2021, the price of petrol increased by about Rs 27 and that of diesel by about Rs 25.

    Out of the excessively hiked additional excise duty, only some relief was given, he said.

    As such, the reduction in excise duty by the Centre appears to be insufficient, he added.

    The chief minister said over 22 per cent of the total revenue of Rajasthan comes from VAT on petrol and diesel.

    The Rajasthan government has reduced VAT by about Rs 3 per litre on petrol and Rs 3.8 per litre on diesel from January 29. Due to this, there is a loss of Rs 2,800 crore in revenue, he said.

    Due to the circumstances caused by COVID-19, there has been a decrease of Rs 20,000 crore in the revenue of the state in this financial year till October, he said.

    Gehlot said the decrease in revenue can be attributed to not providing GST reimbursement of Rs 5,963 crore to the state by the Centre.

    He said even in such a situation, the state government did not allow the pace of development to slow down by doing efficient financial management.

    State BJP president Satish Poonia had targeted the CM over the issue, terming his statement a “nautanki” (drama).

    “The Gehlot government, which charges the highest VAT on petrol and diesel and provides expensive electricity, ridicules the Centre for inflation. Leave this gimmick, please give relief to people of the state from inflation,” Poonia tweeted.

    “The chief minister of Congress-ruled Punjab is also taunting through advertisement about expensive petrol and diesel in Rajasthan,” deputy leader of opposition Rajendra Rathore said in a tweet.

    “When 25 states of the country have reduced VAT, then why Rajasthan is not reducing VAT? Muster courage to reduce VAT and give relief to people,” he said.

    Rathore said Gehlot has repeatedly held the Centre responsible for the increase in fuel prices but “shied away from his responsibility by giving baseless and absurd arguments.”

  • Further reduce excise duty on fuel: Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot to PM Narendra Modi

    By PTI

    JAIPUR: Amid increasing pressure from opposition parties to reduce VAT on petrol and diesel, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Tuesday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to further slash excise duty on fuel to provide relief to people.

    In a letter to the prime minister, Gehlot also requested that a direction be issued to oil companies to stop continuous increase in fuel prices so that people get the benefit of reduced excise duty, according to a statement.

    Meanwhile, the opposition BJP in the state termed Gehlot’s statement a drama, saying his government charges the highest VAT on fuel in the country. The Central government on November 3 announced slashing excise duty on petrol by Rs 5 per litre and on diesel by Rs 10 a litre to give reprieve to consumers battered by record-high retail fuel prices.

    Gehlot demanded that the Centre should further reduce excise duty by Rs 10 on petrol and Rs 15 on diesel. If the Centre reduces excise duty then automatically VAT in the state will reduce by Rs 3.40 on petrol and Rs 3.90 on diesel.

    As a result, Rajasthan is ready to bear a revenue loss of Rs 3,500 crore, the chief minister said in the statement. He said after 2016, the Centre has reduced the state share in excise duty on fuel and states do not get any share from additional or special excise duty charged by the Centre. “Continuously reducing the share of states in taxes is against the spirit of fiscal cooperative federalism,” Gehlot said.

    The chief minister said it is right of the state under the Constitution to impose tax for revenue collection for various development schemes. “Increasing excise duty excessively first and then reducing it and simultaneously creating a competitive environment among states to reduce VAT is also against the spirit of cooperative federalism,” Gehlot said.

    He said during the coronavirus lockdown, the Centre had increased the excise duty on petrol by Rs 10 and on diesel by Rs 13 per litre. From November 4, 2021, there has been talks of giving relief to the public by reducing Rs 5 on petrol and Rs 10 on diesel.

    Gehlot said the reality is that in 2021 itself, the price of petrol increased by about Rs 27 and the price of diesel by about Rs 25. Out of the excessively hiked additional excise duty, only some relief was given, he said.

    As such, the reduction in excise duty by the Centre appears to be insufficient, he added. The chief minister said that more than 22 per cent of the total revenue of Rajasthan comes from VAT on petrol and diesel.

    As a reduction in VAT, the Rajasthan government has reduced by about Rs 3 per litre on petrol and Rs 3.8 per litre on diesel from January 29, 2021 till now. Due to this, there is a loss of Rs 2,800 crore in revenue, he said.

    Due to the circumstances of COVID-19, there has been a decrease of Rs 20,000 crore in the revenue of the state in this financial year till October, he said. Gehlot said the decrease in revenue can be attributed to not providing GST reimbursement of Rs 5,963 crore to the state by the Centre.

    He said even in such a situation, the state government did not allow the pace of development in the state to slow down by doing efficient financial management. The state government is ready to fulfil public announcements and promises made in the budget in a time-bound manner, he added.

    The opposition parties in Rajasthan have been continuously demanding that the state government reduce VAT on fuel to give relief to people.

    The politics over expensive fuel intensified after Congress-ruled Punjab cut down the price of petrol by Rs 10 a litre and diesel by Rs 5 per litre, claiming in an advertisement that fuel prices are lower than Delhi, Haryana and Rajasthan.

    Targeting the chief minister over the issue, BJP state president Satish Poonia termed his statement a “nautanki” and reiterated the demand to reduce VAT. “The Gehlot government, which charges the highest VAT on petrol and diesel and provides expensive electricity, ridicules the Centre for inflation. Leave this gimmick, please give relief to people of the state from inflation,” Poonia tweeted.

    Former chief minister Vasundhara Raje, Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly Gulabchand Kataria, Deputy Leader of Opposition Rajendra Rathore, Rashtriya Loktantrik Party national convener and Nagaur MP Hanuman Beniwal have also demanded reduction in VAT on petrol and diesel.

  • Gehlot cabinet expansion may take place next week as Rajasthan CM to meet Congress top brass

    Express News Service

    JAIPUR:  Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot may expand his government next week. He is scheduled to visit Delhi after November 10 and meet Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi, former president Rahul Gandhi and national general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal to discuss possible names to be included in the cabinet. 

    Gehlot is likely to expand his cabinet by November 12 as three of his ministers — Shanti Dhariwal, Parsadi Lal Meena and Bharosi Lal Jatav — will be on a visit to Dubai till November 18 to prepare for investment summit.

    As per sources, the high command wants cabinet expansion and political appointments to be done as soon as possible so that party workers and MLAs can be satisfied before the third anniversary of the Gehlot government in December.

    After the victory in the recent by-election, CM Gehlot is looking stronger. Sources within the party said the high command may give him a free hand in cabinet expansion and appointments.

    In such a situation, a cloud of doubt hangs over the demands of the Sachin Pilot camp, which has claimed ministerial berths and political and organisational posts. 

    Earlier, there were speculations about some ministers being dropped but after the bypoll victory, their chair is considered safe.  

  • Amid calls to reduce VAT on petrol and diesel, Gehlot asks Centre to further lower excise on them

    By PTI

    JAIPUR: Refusing to lower the state’s VAT on petrol and diesel in the wake of the Centre cutting the excise on two fuels by Rs 5 and Rs 10 respectively, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Saturday said the Union government should further reduce the excise duty on them.

    The reduction of the central excise will automatically lead to the lowering of the state’s VAT collection, Gehlot argued, amid the Opposition BJP demand to the state government to lower the VAT on two fuels.

    Gehlot made the assertion amid various non-BJP-ruled states refusing to slash the VAT to further lower the fuel prices in the wake of the Centre reducing its excise duty on petrol and diesel with various BJP-ruled states too slashing the VAT on them.

    Gehlot argued that the state governments levy VAT on the revenue collected by the Central government in the form of Additional Excise Duty, Special Excise Duty and CESS from petrol, diesel and gas.

    “In view of the inflation, the central government should make further reduction due to which the VAT collection of the states will automatically reduce in the same proportion,” he tweeted.

    He said with the Centre’s November 4 decision to reduce the excise duty, the state’s VAT has also automatically been reduced by Rs 1.8 per litre on petrol and Rs 2.6 per litre on diesel which has caused an annual loss of Rs 1,800 crore in revenue collection of the state.

    At the same time, the chief minister urged the Centre to ask oil companies to refrain from increasing the petrol and diesel prices daily.

    “Otherwise, after Deepawali or assembly elections in five states, the oil companies will increase the price and make the benefit of the relief given by the central and state government to zero,” he said.

    Gehlot said the central government has already reduced the share that all the state governments used to get from the Excise Duty.

    Even otherwise, there has been a huge decline in the States’ revenue due to the Covid pandemic, he argued further.

    “About Rs 5,963 crores of GST Compensation of Rajasthan is yet to be paid by the central government,” he added.

  • With Centre slashing excise duty on petrol, diesel, VAT to get cut automatically: Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot

    By PTI

    JAIPUR: With the Centre slashing excise duty on petrol and diesel, the value-added tax imposed by the state will get reduced automatically in a proportionate manner, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said on Thursday.

    He demanded a further reduction in the excise duty on petrol and diesel to give people relief from the rising inflation and asserted the Congress government in Rajasthan is “ready to bear revenue loss for public welfare”.

    With the Centre cutting excise duty on petrol by Rs 5 per litre and on diesel by Rs 10 per litre, the VAT rate on petrol will get reduced by Rs 1.8 per litre and Rs 2.6 per litre on diesel automatically, the Rajasthan chief minister said.

    This way, petrol will be cheaper by Rs 6.8 per litre and diesel by 12.6 per litre in Rajasthan.

    The state will lose Rs 1,800 crore VAT revenue, he underlined.

    “I would once again urge prime minister (Narendra Modi) to reduce excise duty so that people can get the relief from rising inflation. Our government is ready to bear the revenue loss for public welfare,” Gehlot said.

    He said that it will be ensured with the help of district administration, oil companies and petrol pump dealers that the people get direct benefit of reduced fuel price.

    Gehlot said the state had reduced VAT by 2 per cent in January 2021, which led to a loss of Rs 1,000 crore revenue.

    Now, with a loss of 1,800 crore VAT revenue following the Centre’s decision, Rajasthan is staring at a total loss of Rs 2,800 crore revenue earned from VAT on fuel, he added.

    The excise duty on petrol and diesel was cut by a record Rs 5 and Rs 10 per litre respectively to help bring down rates down from their highest-ever levels.

    The reduction follows an unrelenting hike in international oil prices pushing pump rates across the country to their highest-ever levels.

    While petrol is above Rs 100-a-litre-mark in all major cities, diesel has crossed that level in more than one-and-a-half dozen states.

    Several BJP-ruled states and Bihar, where the BJP is part of the ruling coalition, also reduced VAT rates.

    It comes on the eve of Diwali which will help bring down the skyrocketing prices of fuel and provide some relief to the common man battling inflation.

  • Gehlot should come out of his residence & ask people about their condition: Union Minister Thakur

    By PTI

    JAIPUR: Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur on Saturday said Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot should come out of his residence and ask people about their condition.

    Thakur’s remarks come in response to Gehlot’s allegation against Union Home Minister Amit Shah that the latter had conspired to topple the Rajasthan government last year.

    “He (Gehlot) should come out of his residence and ask about the condition of the public,” the I&B minister said. Thakur arrived here to hold a meeting of his department. He said the Union home minister has a lot of work to do and is engaged in the work for the nation.

    Taking another dig at the Rajathan CM, the I&B minister said Gehlot could not keep his colleagues together and that he should focus on his party.

    Talking about the promotion of sports, Thakur, who is also the sports and youth affairs minister, said the corporate sector and educational institutes should come forward for the promotion of games.

  • Pegasus row: CM Gehlot hails SC decision, says will ‘expose’ Modi government

    By PTI

    JAIPUR: Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Wednesday welcomed the Supreme Court’s decision of appointing a three-member panel of cyber experts to probe the Pegasus snooping row, saying it will expose “undemocratic activities” of PM Narendra Modi-led Union government.

    The SC order came on pleas seeking independent probe into reports of alleged snooping by government agencies on eminent citizens, politicians and scribes by using Israeli firm NSO’s spyware Pegasus.

    Earlier, an international media consortium had reported that over 300 verified Indian mobile phone numbers were on the list of potential targets for surveillance.

    “This is not only a case of breach of privacy but also of playing with national security. The truth will come out from the investigation of the Supreme Court and undemocratic activities of the Modi government will be exposed in front of the country,” Gehlot tweeted.

    He said in the SC, the Centre could not even give a clear answer regarding the use of the spyware due to which the apex court had to form a committee of cyber experts under the chairmanship of a retired judge.

  • Issue SOPs to contain spread of new Delta Plus AY.4.2: Rajasthan CM Gehlot to Centre

    By PTI

    JAIPUR: Expressing concern over cases of a sublineage of SARS CoV2’s delta variant, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot asked the central government on Monday to prepare and issue standard operating procedures (SOPs) for its prevention.

    In a tweet, he said many cases of Delta Plus AY.4.2, a new mutated form of coronavirus that has killed thousands of people in several countries like Russia and the UK, have been found in India.

    “The central government should prepare and issue SOPs for its prevention on the basis of the experience of other countries,” Gehlot tweeted in Hindi.

    ALSO READ: India on alert over new highly mobile COVID-19 variant ‘AY. 4.2’

    “Initially, there were only a few cases of the delta variant but it did not take time to spread across the country,” he said.

    The chief minister added that the government should learn from previous experiences and make full preparations to deal with the new variant.

  • Rajasthan Cabinet rejig after November 2 bypoll results, hints Gehlot camp

    Express News Service

    JAIPUR:  Amid speculations about a cabinet rejig in Rajasthan, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has denied reports of meeting Congress leader Rahul Gandhi during his recent visit to Delhi. 

    On Saturday, Gehlot stated that he did not meet Rahul in connection with the reshuffling of the state cabinet.

    “Such rumours will make rounds until there is a reshuffle of the Cabinet,” he asserted.

    Referring to a newspaper article, he took a swipe on how it reported that Rahul was annoyed with him. “It seemed as if the reporters themselves were sitting there.  Or, maybe they have some divine vision like Sanjay in Mahabharat.”

    Political observers are linking Gehlot’s move with former deputy CM Sachin Pilot’s ongoing efforts to get his aides a place in the Cabinet, PCC. 

    “The CM feels that some people are trying to misuse the media to spread the impression that a formula for a cabinet reshuffle was worked out through a meeting with Rahul. Through his denials, the CM is trying to clarify that there is no pressure from the high command for a cabinet rejig nor will he be forced to do so,” a source in the Gehlot camp said. 

    As the Rajasthan bypoll results will be out on November 2, any political announcement  are likely to be made only after it, they added. 

  • Phone tapping: Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot’s OSD fails to appear before Delhi Police for questioning

    By PTI

    JAIPUR: Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot’s OSD Lokesh Sharma did not appear on Friday before the Crime Branch of the Delhi Police in connection with a phone tapping case, citing “family emergency”.

    The CM’s officer on special duty (OSD) was issued a notice by the Crime Branch to appear before it in Delhi for questioning in connection with the case lodged on a complaint by Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat.

    “When I was on my way to the Crime Branch, I received news of a family emergency and returned. That is why I could not appear,” Sharma said.

    He was earlier called for questioning on July 24 but he said it was not possible for him to travel out of Jaipur for two weeks due to personal reasons.

    However, he said if there was any urgency, he is available via video conference at a suitable time.

    The Delhi High Court has already ordered not to take coercive action against Sharma till January 13.

    The Delhi police had registered the FIR in March this year against Sharma on charges of criminal conspiracy, criminal breach of trust and unlawfully intercepting telegraphic signals (telephonic conversation) on the complaint by Shekhawat, who is also a BJP MP from Jodhpur.

    The phone-tapping controversy erupted in July last year in Rajasthan after alleged audio clips of alleged telephonic conversations between Shekhawat and Congress leaders surfaced amidst a rebellion against Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot by his party leader Sachin Pilot and 18 MLAs.

    It was alleged that Lokesh Sharma circulated audio clips purportedly having conversation about the conspiracy to topple the Congress government.

    On the basis of the audio clips, a complaint was lodged with the Special Operations Group (SOG) and Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) of the Rajasthan Police in July last year but the FIR did not mention that Gajendra Singh referred to in an audio clip was Union minister Shekhawat.

    The SOG later closed the case after the Congress high command intervened to resolve the issues between Gehlot and Pilot.

    Sharma has rejected the allegations of phone tapping.