The Tribune | Himachal Pradesh Government has raised VAT on diesel to cover OPS cost: Hardeep Singh Puri

Jan 10,2023

Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri said on Monday that the Congress government in Himachal Pradesh had hiked value added tax (VAT) on diesel to mobilise money for the old pension scheme (OPS) that the party had promised in its manifesto in the last Assembly elections.

He asked the Congress to heed to the advice of former Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia, who had described the OPS restoration as a “sure shot recipe for bankruptcy”. Puri said, “The Himachal Pradesh Government has raised VAT to cover cost of the implementation of the OPS. But remember, when you raise diesel rates, your economic performance will also be impacted. Instead of maturity in terms of thinking, these things through knee-jerk reactions are coming. I wish the Congress all the best.”

Puri said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had reduced central excise on petrol and diesel twice in November 2021 and May 2022 at a time when 800 million people were being fed three meals a day.

Puri said, “We had even then appealed to BJP and non-BJP states to reduce VAT rates. While the BJP states responded by reducing VAT, non-BJP states dithered. The Himachal Government has raised VAT to cover OPS cost. It should listen to Montek Singh Ahluwalia.”