Jaipur, Nov 8 (PTI) Leader of Opposition in the Rajasthan Assembly Gulabchand Kataria criticised Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Monday for not reducing Value Added Tax (VAT) on petrol and diesel in the state.

Condemning the "stubbornness" of Gehlot, Kataria said if 22 states of the country can reduce their Value Added Tax for the public, then it becomes the responsibility of the Rajasthan chief minister to lower the VAT rate, where it is highest in the country.

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The Centre on Wednesday had slashed excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 5 and Rs 10 per litre respectively.

Deputy Leader of Opposition Rajendra Rathore also targeted the Congress government of the state over the issue, saying the Gehlot dispensation has increased VAT on petrol by 12 per cent and on diesel by 10 per cent after coming to power.

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"Now they are saying that the state government will incur a loss of Rs 1,800 after the Centre reduced excise duty on fuel," Rathore said.

He said the VAT rate on petrol at 36 per cent in the state is the highest in this country.

Rathore said the Congress government in the state had announced that it would pass a resolution in the Assembly to bring petrol and diesel under the ambit of GST, but till now the Rajasthan government representative has not talked about the issue in the GST council meetings.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)