By IANS,
Kolkata : The West Bengal government Saturday reduced cooking gas prices by Rs.16 per cylinder to partially offset the hike of Rs.50 announced by the central government.
Announcing the cut, Chief minister Mamata Banerjee said: “But for the increase in price, we would have got additional cess of Rs.16 per cylinder.”
“Keeping in mind the interests of the people, the state government has decided not to take the cess of Rs. 16. This will help the people to manage their budget to some extent,” she added.
The reduction in cess would be effective from Saturday and cause the state exchequer a loss of Rs.75 crore.
The chief minister said she took the decision after discussions with Finance Minister Amit Mitra, who was present when Banerjee announced her decision to the media at the state secretariat.
Banerjee said her government had a moral responsibility to the people and regretted that the erstwhile Left Front regime had not paid any heed to the opposition’s request time and again to cut cess on fuel prices.
“The hike of Rs.50 now comes down to Rs.34,” added Banerjee.
She also said her party does not support in any way the price hike. “We are totally against it. We do not support the price hike.”
She also said that the price reduction will be notified Monday but it will become effective from Saturday.
The central government hiked the prices of diesel, kerosene and cooking gas respectively by Rs.3 per litre, Rs.2 per litre and Rs.50 per cylinder with effect from Friday midnight.