New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a meeting with the Chief Ministers of all states to discuss the recent spike in COVID cases observed throughout the country. During this meeting, he also pointed out that states did not reduce petrol and diesel taxes after the Centre waived the duty last year.
The Prime Minister during his interaction pointed out states like West Bengal, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, and Kerala did not reduce the state tax.
Talking about the Centre-state relation he said that due to the recent developments in the geopolitical situation which includes war, it is important to maintain strong ties between the Centre and the state and push the feeling of “cooperative federalism”.
Talking about the issue of price hike of petrol and diesel he said that “The central government reduced the excise duty on petrol and diesel. The Central government urged the State governments to reduce the taxes so that the benefits get transferred to the general public.”
He further added that some states abided by the orders of the Central government but others failed to do so, due to which the prices of petrol and diesel are still high in some states as compared to others. Situations like these create problems not only for the public of the particular state but for the neighboring states who also get affected.
He further took an example of the state of Karnataka and said that “The state would have earned 5000 crores if they wouldn’t have reduced the taxes during the past few months.” He added that “This is an injustice to the people and also to the economy of other states.”
He further urged the states to reduce Value Added Tax (VAT) so that the general public can receive much-needed benefits from such measures.