NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party-led Uttar Pradesh government on Wednesday raised petrol and diesel prices by increasing value-added tax (VAT) on transportation fuel and becoming the15th state to do so.
The state headed by chief minister Yogi Adityanath announced that the VAT on petrol and diesel will be increased by Rs2 per litre and Rs1 per litre, respectively, effective from Wednesday midnight.
This comes after the government on Tuesday raised the excise duty on petrol by a steep Rs10 per litre and on diesel by Rs13 petrol litre to mobilise revenue collections. The sharp hike in prices comes despite extremely low global crude oil prices, with Brent crude hitting a 21-year low, and US oil futures slumping into negative for the first time in history.
