By IANS
New Delhi : The Maharashtra government has agreed to withdraw a fee of Rs.1.5 per litre imposed on supply of ethanol to other states after a meeting between Petroleum Minister Murli Deora and the state’s chief minister in Mumbai Monday.
“Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh stated his government will withdraw the export fee of Rs.1,500 per kilolitre (Rs.1.5 per litre), presently being imposed on ethanol supplies to other states while talking to media persons after his meeting with Deora,” an official statement said.
“Deora requested the Maharashtra chief minister to completely remove the export duty on ethanol so that excess production in Maharashtra could be supplied to other states, which will ultimately benefit sugarcane farmers of Maharashtra,” the statement added.
The national programme for supply of ethanol-blended petrol was launched November 2006 throughout the country except the northeast states, Jammu and Kashmir, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and Lakshadweep Islands.
According to the official release, Deora also reiterated his earlier demand for rationalisation of octroi tax levied by Brihan-Mumbai Municipal Corporation on crude oil procured by Mumbai refineries of state-owned oil marking companies (OMCs) Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd and Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd.
“This levy has been putting additional burden on these two OMCs, that are already facing heavy under-recoveries (losses) in their effort to insulate consumers against high volatility in global crude oil prices,” Deora was quoted as saying in the meeting.