Bhopal: Pay more for petrol and diesel

Bhopal: The government has given a big jolt to the people at the dawn of the New Year by imposing one per cent cess on petrol and diesel. This will mean a 50 paise per litre hike in the price of both the fuels as of now. If the base price of the two fuels goes up in the future, the amount of the cess will also grow. The decision to impose the cess was taken at the cabinet meeting here on Wednesday. The cabinet cleared the Motor Spirit Cess and High Speed Cess ordinance for the purpose. Currently, petrol and diesel cost Rs 74.91 per litre and Rs 62.46 per litre respectively in the state.

The revenue accruing from the imposition of the cess would be used for funding infrastructure projects. According to finance minister Jayant Mallaiya, the cess will fetch an additional Rs 150 crore per year to the government. He said that the money would be used for repair and maintenance of roads. It will also be used to service the debt taken by the government for infrastructure development.

Leader of opposition Ajay Singh said that if the chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan stops splurging money on his branding and foreign trips and on festivals of different descriptions, there would be absolutely no need for imposing the cess. He said that the government has only increased the burden on the farmers by making diesel costlier.