Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SP)

Bengaluru, Sep 12: Karnataka chief minister, H D Kumaraswamy, said that the state government has decided to cut down duty on diesel and petrol to bring down prices of these commodities in the state. He said an order to this effect would be soon issued. He said he will discuss the issues with the officials in the state and at New Delhi.

Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan have already taken a decision to bring down pries of these commodities a bit by cutting down state's duty.

"Because of certain moves of the Union government, oil prices have risen. We plan to bring down the prices of petroleum products by cutting the cess the government has currently been levying on these products. A final decision would be announced after holding conversation with officials of the finance department," Kumaraswamy clarified.

The chief minister claimed that compared to other states, Karnataka is not levying huge cess on petrol and diesel, and that compared to neighbouring states, prices of petroleum products are lowest in Karnataka.

Minister, Krishna Byre Gowda, said that till 2013, high rate of taxes were being levied on petroleum products and that the rate of cess in Karnataka on petrol is the lowest in the country. He said he opposes the Central government, which hiked diesel and petroleum prices nine times during the last four years, Karnataka has hiked its price twice, and again lowered them twice.