UP govt cuts prices of petrol, diesel by Rs 2.50 a litre

The Uttar Pradesh government on Thursday decided to slash the prices of petrol and diesel by Rs 2.50 per litre, which will give consumers in the state relief to the tune of Rs 5 a litre.

The announcement was made by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath soon after the Centre announced cut in the prices of petrol and diesel by Rs 2.50 per litre.

With this step, the price of petrol in the state will now be Rs 78.21 and that of diesel will be available for Rs 70.44 per litre which currently costs Rs 83.21 and Rs 75.44 per litre respectively, Adityanath said.

"The state will have to bear an additional burden of Rs 4,000 crore annually because of this step, but we have decided to go ahead with it in order to extend relief to the people of Uttar Pradesh," he told reporters here.

"We will compensate this burden on the exchequer through other resources," Adityanath said.

The chief minister said the move to slash petrol and diesel prices will give a huge relief to all sections of society in the state.

He asserted that prices of petrol and diesel in the state were lower than many other states and no new tax had been imposed on these products in the past several years.

Lauding the Centre's move to cut the prices of petrol and diesel, Adityanath said it will be implemented in the state as soon as it is done by the Union government.

Earlier in the day, the Central government announced a Rs 2.50 a litre cut in petrol and diesel prices, factoring in excise duty reduction of Rs 1.50 per litre and asking oil companies to absorb another Re 1.