Fuel price hike a boon for Telangana government

HYDERABAD: The hike in prices of petrol and diesel has come as a blessing in disguise for the cash-strapped Telangana government as it is helping the State shore up its revenue at the rate of an additional Rs 150 crore to Rs 200 crore per month, without increasing the Value Added Tax (VAT) on hydrocarbon fuels. With the price of petrol at Rs 100 per litre and that of diesel a close second, the State is making nearly Rs 1,000 crore per month.

The VAT on petrol is 35.2 per cent; for diesel, it is 27 per cent on the sale price. The sudden windfall is caused by an increase in accrual of VAT on petrol. If the price goes up by Rs 1, it will fetch an additional income of around Rs 14 crore per month.

In the last six months, the price of petrol has gone up by Rs 13 per litre. This, in turn, means that the State gets an additional revenue anywhere between Rs 150 crore and Rs 200 every month.

The price of petrol in Hyderabad in the first week of April this year was around Rs 94 per litre. There has been a Rs 6 hike in price in the last two months and a Rs 13 hike in the last six months.