REPRESENTATIONAL IMAGE/PTI
The West Bengal government on Sunday announced a reduction of tax by Re 1 per litre on petrol and diesel. The decision, announced by state finance minister Amit Mitra, will be effective from midnight. He said the move will provide some respite to people stung by burgeoning prices of fuel.\
"The Centre earns Rs 32.90 per litre in taxes from petrol, while the state gets Rs 18.46 only. In case of diesel, the central government's earning is Rs 31.80 per litre as against Rs 12.77 for the state," Mitra said.
Further, he alleged that the Centre had imposed cess to avoid devolution with states, which is "against the characteristics of federalism".
