Delhi govt increases VAT on petrol & diesel; prices hiked by ₹1.67 & ₹7.10 respectively

The Delhi government on Tuesday has increased value-added tax (VAT) on petrol and diesel resulting in the rise in the price of the two fuels. While the petrol price has increased by ₹1.67 per litre, the price of diesel has increased by ₹7.10 a litre. Before the hike, the petrol prices in Delhi was ₹69.59 per litre while diesel rates were ₹62.29. Basically, the Arvind Kejriwal led government has increased VAT on petrol to 30% from 27% while VAT on diesel has been almost doubled to 30% from 16.75%.

Other state governments have also increased the VAT on fuels claiming massive revenue losses during the coronavirus lockdown in the country which has now been extended to May 17. While Haryana government recently hiked tax by ₹1 per litre on petrol and ₹1.1 per litre on diesel, Tamil Nadu government hiked VAT by ₹3.25 per litre for petrol and that of diesel by ₹2.50 per litre.

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'Special Corona Fee'

As the lockdown 3.0 began on Monday with reopening of liquor shops, norms of social distancing went for a toss. Taking action to limit the crowd outside the liquor shops, Chief Minister Arvind-Kejriwal led Delhi Government in a late-night notification imposed "Special Corona Fees" of 70% tax on the Maximum Retail Price (MRP) of the liquor. The Finance Department of the Delhi government said, "70 per cent of the maximum retail price (will be levied) on all categories of liquor sold through retail licensees for consumption."

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India's lockdown extended

On Friday, the Ministry of Home Affairs issued a notification extending the nationwide lockdown by 2 weeks from May 4. The notification states the considerable relaxations in districts falling in green and orange zones allowed by MHA, will continue to remain in place. The Union Health Ministry has divided districts across the nation as red (classified based on total active cases, doubling rate, the extent of testing and surveillance) - 130 districts, orange (those neither in green or red zones) - 284 districts and green zones (Zero cases for past 21 days) - 319 districts. Restrictions too have been lifted accordingly. Currently, India has 46433 cases with 1568 deaths, 12727 cured/discharged/migrated.

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