Petrol and diesel in Punjab will get dearer by 90 paise per litre with the Cabinet on Friday giving the go ahead to the cash-crunched government’s decision to levy a cess. The government, which has been facing a shortage of funds, hopes to mop up some additional resources by levying the cess.
In 2021, former chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi’s government had done away with VAT on petrol and diesel and made these cheaper by Rs 10 and Rs 5 per litre respectively.
The Cabinet on Friday also reduced the price of sand from Rs 9 per cubic ft to Rs 5.5 per cubic ft.
Addressing the media after the meeting, Cabinet minister Aman Arora said that the government would not allow tippers to go to the pithead. The sand will be available for Rs 5.50 per cubic feet at the pithead and buyers would have to take a trolley to the pithead and buy sand.
