Northern states agree on uniform fuel rates

Five states and the union territory of Chandigarh have agreed to move towards uniform fuel rates.

The five states are Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and New Delhi and these are ruled by three different parties namely, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

With the initiatives of Haryana Finance and Excise and Taxation Minister, Captain Abhimanyu for the economic strengthening of Northern states and to implement 'One Nation One Tax' system, a meeting was organized on Tuesday in Chandigarh with the Finance Ministers and the senior officers of the Northern states.

During the meeting, it was agreed to bring uniformity to the rates of petrol and diesel and all the participating states decided to constitute a sub-committee for the same. It has also been decided that the committee would convene a meeting in the next fifteen days and all the participating states will give their recommendations.

"The Finance Ministers and officials of Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Union Territory of Chandigarh, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi attended this meeting," said Captain Abhimanyu, while addressing the media after the meeting.

On behalf of Delhi, Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister Delhi, Manish Sisodia and on behalf of Punjab, Finance Minister Punjab, Manpreet Singh Badal attended the meeting while from other states, the other senior officials attended this meeting.

The Finance Minister said that on the advice of Delhi, similar Excise Policy will be implemented for all the North Eastern states so that there is similarity of rates of liquor for all these Northern states. Likewise, Punjab suggested that there should be a similar uniform policy for state transport so that there should be no loss of revenue from registration and permit fees since many trucks and vehicles of Punjab and Haryana have their registration from other states.

A committee of officials has also been set up for excise and transport, which would send the report to their respective state governments on the uniformity of rates.

The delegates appreciated the efforts of Haryana for holding this meeting and said that this is the second meeting of the Northern States after 2015.

(ANI)