The petrol and diesel rates in Madhya Pradesh capital Bhopal have come down to Rs 108.63 and Rs 93.88 per litre, respectively, in the wake of the excise duty cut by the Centre, a fuel association representative said on Sunday.
However, this sudden announcement will cause losses to petrol pump owners as oil companies do not provide tax relief on the existing stock, Madhya Pradesh Petrol Pump Owners Associations president Ajay Singh told PTI.
The Centre's announcement has brought down the petrol rates by about Rs 9.5 per litre, he said.
Hence, the petrol now costs Rs 108.63 per litre in Bhopal as against the rate of Rs 118.12 per litre on Saturday, he said.
Similarly, the diesel rate has come down to Rs 93.88 per litre on Sunday from Rs 101.14 per litre the previous day, he said.
There is a variation of up to Rs 3 in the rates in different parts of the state, depending on the transportation cost of fuel, he added.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said the Centre's decision to reduce the excise duty on petrol and diesel will bring relief to people across the country.
State BJP chief V D Sharma termed the Centre's decision as "historic".
But, Congress Rajya Sabha member Digvijaya Singh demanded that the central excise duty on petroleum products be brought down to the 2014 level.
The price of petrol should be brought down by Rs 20 per litre and that of diesel by Rs 26, he said.
MP Congress Chief Kamal Nath demanded that the state government reduce the Value Added Tax (VAT) on petroleum products to further bring down the rates.
The Centre on Saturday cut excise duty on petrol by a record Rs 8 per litre and that on diesel by Rs 6 per litre to give relief to consumers battered by high fuel prices that have also pushed inflation to a multi-year high.
Announcing the duty cut, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had also said that the government will give Rs 200 per cylinder subsidy to the Ujjwala Yojana beneficiaries for 12 cylinders in a year, to help ease some of the burden arising from the cooking gas rates rising to record levels.
