Petrol Price In Bengaluru Hiked Today: Check Latest Petrol, Diesel Rates In Karnataka

In a recent move, the Karnataka state government has increased taxation on petrol and diesel, leading to a hike of Rs 3 in fuel prices. The state government notification, issued on Saturday, has increased the Karnataka Sales Tax (KST) on petrol from 25.92 percent to 29.84 percent and from 14.3 percent to 18.4 percent on diesel.

According to the Akhila Karnataka Petroleum Dealers Association, the prices of petrol and diesel have increased by Rs 3 and Rs 3.02 respectively. As of now, the price of petrol in Bengaluru is Rs 102.86 per litre, while diesel is priced at Rs 88.94 per litre.

The increase in fuel prices comes into effect immediately, as stated in the notification issued by the state finance department. The last revision in fuel prices was made in November 2021, when the previous BJP government reduced petrol prices by Rs 13.30 per litre and diesel prices by Rs 19.40 per litre to help revive the economy after the COVID-19 pandemic.

The price hike is expected to generate an additional revenue of around Rs 2,500-Rs 2,800 crore for the state government in this financial year. This is part of a larger effort by the government to mobilize funds to implement its five election guarantees, which include free travel for women, free power supply, financial assistance for female heads of households, food grains for BPL families, and unemployment benefits for graduates and diploma holders.

The five guarantees are expected to benefit around 5.10 crore people in the state at a cost of around Rs 36,000 crore in 2023-24. In his budget speech, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah allocated around Rs 52,009 crore for these schemes this fiscal year.

The state government has also taken other measures to increase revenue, including increasing guidance value of properties by 15-30 percent, imposing additional excise duty on Indian-made liquor by 20 percent on all slabs, imposing additional duty on beer from 175 percent to 185 percent, introducing a lifetime tax on EVs above Rs 25 lakh, and intensifying tax collection.

The budget for 2024-25 has an outlay of around Rs 3,71,383 crore with a revenue deficit of around Rs 27,354 crore. This is expected to be the first time annual borrowings have exceeded Rs 1 lakh crore in a fiscal year.