Petrol to cost more in Goa now as BJP hikes VAT to 15%
GOANEWS DESK, PANAJI | 25 March 2015 21:20 IST
Petrol will cost dearly to Goans now, with Laxmikant Parsekar’s Bharatiya Janata Party government hiking the VAT on it, from 10 per cent to 15 per cent.
“We will reduce the VAT if the petrol prices cross Rs 60 per litre”, Parsekar told the media, after presenting the budget.
The petrol would now approximately cost Rs 58 per litre in Goa.
Goans were happy when former chief minister Manohar Parrikar, soon after coming to power in 2012, had reduced the VAT on petrol to mere one per cent.
Later on, he had increased it to 3.5 per cent.
After he took over in November, within a month, Parsekar had increased the VAT to 10 per cent.
Now, in his maiden budget, the new chief minister has hiked it by five per cent more.
“But it is still less than neighbouring Maharashtra and Karnataka”, argued Parsekar.
Maintaining VAT-free petrol prices for five long years was the election promise the BJP had made in 2012 Assembly election.
“We will keep our election promise. The minute it crosses RS 60, we will reduce the VAT”, assured Parsekar.
The petrol presently costs around Rs 55 per litre.
The budget aims to raised almost Rs 100 crore from the VAT imposed on petrol.
The total estimated commercial tax receipts is around Rs 150 crore, which means the government can raise only Rs 50 crore through other commercial taxes like luxury tax, entry tax and entertainment tax.
It means the government would get almost two thirds of its VAT by hiking tax on petrol, which was cheaper all these days.
It also means that government would raise almost 43 per cent of its tax and non-tax revenue from VAT on petrol alone as total resource mobilisation is Rs 235 crore.
When BJP will start its pet project – E-GOVERNANCE? No Single Window Clearance for sanctioning House Plan, Partition, Conversion, Mutation, Single Floor House Construction and above all to get License to do business in Goa! There must be Single Window Clearance to get License to do business in Goa. This way employment will increase in Goa and burden on Goa Government will decrease of unemployment.