The finance minister has labelled about 65 per cent of the fuel excise revenue as cess, including the restructured road and infrastructure cess
Thackeray also said that while taking the decision, excise rules have not been touched and pubs and bars will close as usual at 1.30am.
After Rajasthan, petrol price on Thursday crossed the Rs 100 per litre mark in Madhya Pradesh after fuel rates were increased for the tenth day in a row. Petrol price was hiked by 34 paise per litre and diesel by 32 paise, according to a price notification of state-owned fuel retailers. While branded or additive-laced petrol, which attracts higher taxes, had crossed the Rs 100-mark in some places in states like Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, regular petrol crossed the physiological mark in Sriganganagar town of Rajasthan on Wednesday, and on Thursday it went past that mark in Madhya Pradesh. In Anuppur of Madhya Pradesh, petrol is priced at Rs 100.25 per litre and diesel at Rs 90.35. Fuel prices differ from state to state depending on the incidence of local taxes such as VAT and freight charges.
BJP-ruled Maharashtra levies 46.52 per cent VAT (47.64 per cent in Mumbai) on petrol, the highest in the country.
'Why should we disclose how and from where we will get these numbers?'
Petrol and diesel prices on Monday were hiked for the seventh day in a row as a rally in international oil prices took retail rates in India to new highs. Petrol price was increased by 26 paise per litre and diesel by 29 paise, according to a price notification of state-owned fuel retailers. This pushed retail rates, which differ from state to state depending on the incidence of local sales tax or VAT and freight charges, to their highest level. The hike took petrol price in Delhi to a record Rs 88.99 per litre and to a highest-ever rate of Rs 95.46 a litre in Mumbai.
The Maharashtra government plans to extend timings of the bar counters at star hotels especially to facilitate foreign tourists, a senior state excise official said.
She charged the government with profiteering at the expense of the people, saying its duty was to help them in times of crisis and not make profits out of their hard-earned money.
Dr Zaheed Qureshi said that when his daughter Shabana married Sameer Wankhede, the latter practised Islam, and would occasionally visit mosques.
In order to stop the production and sale of illicit liquor, Maharashtra government is considering a proposal to amend the existing law.
On April 5, 2016, the Nitish Kumar-led government imposed total prohibition in Bihar. M I Khan crunches numbers for the REAL picture since then.
Portfolios were distributed 2 weeks after the MVA govt was sworn-in. Shiv Sena's Eknath Shinde will be home minister while NCP's Jayant Patil will be finance minister.
'The BJP is scared it may lose the Delhi municipal elections where they have been in power for the last 15 years.'
'Singh is complaining that politicians are summoning Waze after bypassing him.' 'But Singh is himself undermining the hierarchy within his force by interacting directly with Waze.'
While the Centre is criticised for not cutting excise duty on petroleum products, it is the states which gain more from the rise in their prices
The toll due to consumption of spurious liquor in the Malad area of Mumbai climbed to 94 with the death of four more persons on Sunday.
The NHRC has issued notices to Maharashtra Government and the Mumbai police commissioner over the hooch tragedy which has claimed over 100 lives so far.
In a breakthrough into the worst-ever hooch tragedy in Mumbai that has so far claimed 102 lives and rendered over 40 people ill, police have tracked down and arrested one of the main suppliers of the killer brew in Delhi.
New fuel to cost 15-20 paise less per litre
Most producers have put off plans to make capital investments in their wineries, and implemented cost-reduction measures to conserve cash.
Almost 70 per cent of alcohol distribution in India happens through liquor vends or shops, while 30 per cent happens on-premise, that is, in bars, pubs, and hotels.
Party leader Jayalalithaa said protests would also be held in states like Maharashtra, Delhi, Karnataka and Puducherry, where her party was functioning.
Record sugar output has also yielded molasses production way beyond market demand and plant capacity of state distilleries and country made liquor units
The Central government is stuck between the devil and the deep blue sea as far as the runaway fuel prices are concerned.
The toll in Mumbai's worst hooch tragedy rose to 102 on Monday with the death of five more victims who consumed spurious liquor in Malad area and another 46 are in hospitals with eight of them struggling to survive serious ill-effects of the killer brew.
Liquor shops reopened across the country in the non-containment zones after 40 days from Monday with people queuing up in large numbers, giving social distancing norms a toss at some places.
The EC has asked all departments to deploy round-the-clock flying squads, quick-response teams, and high-tech machinery to check money inflow. They are also to examine vehicles passing though check-posts, reports Shrimi Choudhary.
'What has taken the government so long to understand what the people of this country are going through?'
The feeling was that the higher levy would prompt the company to increase prices in the process hurting volumes. But the unchanged central excise duty, analysts say, outweighs the VAT increases in Maharashtra and Delhi. As a result, estimates for the current year have been upped with expectations that the company could grow its top line by as much as 13-14 per cent driven by a 6-7 per cent rise in volumes.
The Union Budget on Monday evoked contrasting responses in the political arena with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party hailing it as a vision for an 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat' and the Opposition describing it as a 'let down like never before' that was meant to 'deceive' people.
To snatch a state government out of Congress hands is therefore a high-stakes game with national political implications, for it denies the party the essential fuel to run effective election campaigns, notes T N Ninan.
The government plans to operate a second unit of Dabhol project on naphtha from May to partly tide over the massive electricity shortages in Maharashtra during summer.
"We respect the Supreme Court order. We will take suggestions from legal experts to see whether there can be a middle path," Sharma said.
Low oil prices drove the growth in states' share faster than expected, says Abhishek Waghmare.
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