Diesel price up by Rs 2 per litre after Karnataka hikes sales tax rate

Mangalore Today News Network

Bengaluru, April 2, 2025: The Siddaramaiah administration on Tuesday hiked the price of diesel by Rs 2 per litre, which the Opposition BJP described as “sucking the blood” of the poor and middle class.

The government has issued a notification hiking the rate of sales tax on diesel from 18.44 per cent to 21.17 per cent, an increase of 2.73 percentage points. The government hopes to fetch an additional revenue of Rs 2,000 crore with this measure.

The hike will bring the sale price of diesel to Rs 91.02. The government argued that this would still be cheaper than diesel prices in Hosur in Tamil Nadu (Rs 94.42), Kasargod in Kerala (Rs 95.66), Anantapur in Andhra Pradesh (Rs 97.35), Hyderabad in Telangana (Rs 95.70) and Kagal in Maharashtra (Rs 91.07).

“...the revised sale price in Karnataka will continue to be lower compared to the neighbouring states,” the government said.

The Karnataka Sales Tax rate on diesel was at 24 per cent before November 4, 2021 and the per-litre price was Rs 92.03, the government pointed out. On June 15, 2024, the sales tax rate on diesel was revised to 18.44 per cent.

Leader of the Opposition R Ashoka went after Chief Minister Siddaramaiah for the diesel hike, which came after the government increased the prices of milk and imposed a new cess on garbage collection.

“Doesn’t Siddaramaiah, the self-declared economist, know that diesel is used to transport goods and a hike in diesel price would impact milk, vegetables, fruits, groceries, taxis and other essentials?” Ashoka asked.

Ashoka guessed that the government would hike bus fares again citing diesel costs. “What other taxes and prices are you conspiring to hike?” he asked the CM.