Orissa slash 2% VAT tax on petrol, diesel, no reprieve for LPG users

By Pabitra Senapati
Bhubaneswar, June 6: Following the footprints of Bihar and New Delhi, the Orissa government on Friday slashed value added tax (VAT) by 2 per cent from 20 per cent on petrol and diesel to cushion the hike in fuel prices announced by the Centre on Wednesday.
The government, however, did not give any reprieve to the LPG consumers.
With the 2 per cent cut in VAT, the petrol and diesel prices will not be cheaper by 86 and 64 paisa respectively. Now a litre of petrol will cost here Rs 50.82 instead of Rs 51.62 after the recent increase. Similarly a litre of diesel will cost Rs 37.25 instead of Rs 37.76.
The PLG cylinder will cost Rs 356 after the UPA government announced a hike of Rs 50 on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the impact of the Left parties sponsored shutdown was more felt in cities like Balasore, Bhadrak, Ganjam, Talcher, Rourkela, Jajpur, Sambalpur, Cuttack and here. There has been no report of any untoward incident, the officials said.
Hundreds of activists of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) and the Communist Party of India (CPI) blocked roads in various cities by burning tyres and squatting on the roads. The roads were cleared after the activists courted arrest, police sources said.
“In Bhubaneswar, the (CPI-M) activists took out at least four
processions shouting slogans against price hike. Hundreds of activists sat on a railway line,” said party state secretary Janardan Pati.
Train services were affected in some places as the protesters sat on
the railway tracks and did not allow trains to ply.