Why rising fuel costs should particularly concern state govts, and you

By trimming the part of fuel tax shared with states and raising cess to which it has sole access, Centre now may earn 30% more fuel tax than all states combined, from being 20% behind them 5 years ago

Consumers are paying an exorbitant 180 per cent tax on petrol, and 140 per cent on diesel in Delhi and in most other towns in India. Little wonder then that the central government expects a staggering Rs 3.46 trillion by levying excise duties on retail sale of the two fuels this year, and Rs 3.2 trillion the next. 

States would generally have had reason to cheer, as they command a 41 per cent share in Centre’s tax revenues. But as the Centre has raised excise duties in the form of “cess,” the revenue proceeds are by nature not shareable with