Petrol to cost Rs2.65 a litre higher in Uttarakhand

Petrol price in Uttarakhand on Wednesday became costlier by Rs2.65 per litre with the state government withdrawing VAT relief on the fuel."We have withdrawn the relief in VAT on the sale of petrol in Uttarakhand," said Finance Secretary Radha Raturi. With this, petrol will cost Rs71.66 per litre in the hill state.However, defending the move, the chief minister claimed that even after withdrawing relief given in VAT on petrol price, its cost in the state was lower in comparison to other states.Bahuguna said relief has been withdrawn only on petrol price and not on diesel price. He maintained that even after withdrawal of relief in VAT on petrol price it would remain cheaper by Rs2.5 as compared to Uttar Pradesh.This is because VAT on petrol price in Uttarakhand is comparatively lesser than other states, he said adding the withdrawal in relief would earn an annual revenue of Rs80 crore to the state government.