Petrol, diesel to get dearer in K'taka

Bengaluru, NT Bureau: Karnataka government on Saturday hiked sales tax on fuel which will make petrol and diesel costlier.

According to official sources, petrol will now go up by Rs 3 and diesel by Rs 3.5 per litre. In a notification issued by the Finance Department, the government has hiked sales tax on petrol by 3.92 percentage points, from 25.92 to 29.84 per cent.

On diesel, the hike is 4.1 percentage points, from 14.34 to 18.44 per cent. This notification shall come into force with immediate effect, it said.

The move, aimed at resource mobilisation, comes after Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who is also the finance minister, reviewed the state's revenue generation and fiscal position. During the meeting, the CM asked officials to work harder towards meeting revenue collection targets.

According to sources, the hike is expected to generate Rs 2,500-Rs 2,800 crore during the financial year.