The West Bengal government on Sunday reduced the price of petrol and diesel by Re 1.
Announcing the decision, Finance Minister, Amit Mitra, said the reduction in sales tax would come into effect from midnight.
The move, he said, will give relief to the people from "burgeoning fuel prices".
"The Centre earns ₹32.90 per litre in taxes from petrol, while the state gets ₹18.46. In the case of diesel, the central government's earning is ₹31.80 per litre as against ₹12.57 for the state," Mitra claimed.
He added that the state government gets nothing from the cess imposed by the Centre on petrol and diesel. Amount collected through cess are not a part of devolution (of revenues).
Petrol prices in the poll-bound state was nearly ₹92 per litre.
The state's ruling party, Trinamool Congress, has already begun agitations and demonstrations across different districts against the continuous fuel hike. A host of programs are expected tomorrow, a day when Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to arrive to address a public rally.