WB govt withdraws cess on LPG

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To provide relief to the common people reeling under hiked fuel price, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today announced her government's decision to withdraw cess on LPG and thus save Rs 16 per cylinder for the consumers with immediate effect.

"I consulted my Finance minister Amit MItra after midnight decision of the UPA government to hike prices of diesel, LPG and Kerosene oil and decided to withdraw cess collected by the state government on each LPG cylinder to give relief to common people", the chief minister told reporters here.

She said that the state government would not collect cess of Rs 16 per LPG cylinder and this would effectively put the burden of hike at Rs 34 and not Rs 50 on consumers in the state.

"UPA government raised the LPG cylinder price by Rs 50, but consumers in our state will bear Rs 34 by our government's decision", she said.

This, she said, would entail loss of Rs 75 crore to the state exchequer 'which we will mop up from other sources of income. But our government does not want to put more burden on the people'.

"I think this will provide relief to the Ma, Mati and Manush", she said adding that notification in this regard would be made on Monday.

Slamming the Centre, of which her party Trinamool Congress is the second largest ally, for the fuel price hike effected last midnight, Banerjee said ''we would like to urge the Centre to reduce LPG price''.

The chief minister said there had been steep increase in prices of diesel, Kerosene oil and LPG 'which has hurt me very much. I am pained at such a decision by the Centre'.

Banerjee said that despite the repeated requests to the previous Left Front government, it did not bother to lift cess on LPG to give relief to the common people. 'Left Front talks big, but does nothing substantial'. 'We have shown that we could do it', Banerjee asserted.

She flayed the opposition left parties for 'doing only politics on the issue, without doing anything concrete during their tenure in the state'.

The chief minister said she had already expressed her government's opposition to the the Centre's decision and added that her party would never support such an action.