Hyderabad, Sep 10: A day after Rajasthan reduced the Value-added Tax (VAT) on petrol and diesel by 4 per cent, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu announced a reduction in petrol and diesel price by Rs 2 each in the state. According to a tweet by ANI, the new rates of petrol and diesel will come into effect from Tuesday morning. The orders for the same will be issued later today.

Soon after the new prices come into effect from Tuesday, Andhra Pradesh will become the fourth state to have reduced the VAT on petrol and diesel. The other three states are Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra.

In October 2017, the Gujarat government had announced 4 per cent cut in the VAT on the retail price of petrol and diesel responding to the Centre's suggestion amid escalating fuel cost. The VAT reduction brought down the price of petrol by Rs 2.93 per litre and that of diesel by Rs 2.72 per litre. Soon after Gujarat, Maharashtra had reduced VAT on prices of petrol and diesel by Rs 2 and Re 1 respectively, effective from October 2017.

Earlier this week, criticising the Modi-led government for a continuous surge in fuel prices, Naidu said that petrol would be sold at Rs. 100 per litre. Taking a dig at the Centre, he said in addition to petrol prices, the rupee value would also touch Rs. 100 against one US dollar.

Talking about demonetisation, Naidu said the Centre was unable to "properly manage demonetisation." "What have we achieved from demonetisation? We are seeing the condition of banks today. Big notes should be abolished. What is the need for having Rs 2,000 note? The Modi government could not properly manage demonetisation," he was quoted by PTI.  Naidu further added that he doesn't have any problem if digital currency comes fully into existence, but there needs to be proper balancing between digital and physical currency.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 10, 2018 03:56 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).