WB govt for reversal of hike in fuel excise

The West Bengal Government appealed to the Centre to reconsider the hike in excise duty on petrol and diesel in the Union Budget.

"The proposal to increase the Central Excise duty on petrol and diesel will directly and indirectly aggravate inflationary spiral, including food price inflation," state Finance Minister Asim Dasgupta said.

"Imposition of indirect taxes to compensate with the concessions given in direct taxes should be reconsidered, besides withdrawing Central Excise duty on petrol and diesel," he said.

Stating that to control inflation the Centre should enhance its support for increasing agricultural production through augmented central plan assistance for irrigation and other inputs, he said "it will be helpful to resolve these conflicting views through discussions as early as possible."

He said it was unclear why despite controversial record of some non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), they were allowed more banking licenses along with private sectors.

"Even as the Union Finance Minister was fully appreciative of the social welfare role of the government, there was a view to limit this role by mechanically imposing restriction of fiscal deficit as a proportion of Gross Domestic Product (GDP)," Dasgupta added.