The Jharkhand government on Wednesday announced a concession of Rs 25 per litre of petrol for two-wheeler owners who hold a ration card. The scheme was announced by Chief Minister Hemant Soren at an event held to mark two years of his government.

The concession will not be offered at the petrol pumps, but Rs 25 will be deposited in the consumers’ bank accounts for up to 10 litres of the fuel every month. The move will come into effect from January 26, 2022.

Soren said the decision was taken in view of poor and middle-class people who were unable to commute to markets to sell their wares as they could not afford the high fuel prices.

With fuel prices reaching record high levels, the Centre had slashed excise duty on petrol by Rs 5 and on diesel by Rs 10 per litre last month. Fuel prices across the country have not gone up since the decision came to effect on November 4.

Meanwhile, many states have slashed VAT on fuel products since then. Revenues from excise duty go to the Union government, while the state governments earn revenues from VAT.

Assam, Goa, Tripura, Manipur, Karnataka and Gujarat have reduced the value added tax on both petrol and diesel by Rs 7, while Delhi slashed petrol prices by Rs 8. Chhattisgarh has reduced VAT on diesel by 2% and on petrol by 1%.

The Uttarakhand government has also reduced petrol prices in the state by Rs 7 per litre. Uttar Pradesh has slashed prices of petrol and diesel by Rs 12 per litre.

The Bihar government has reduced prices of petrol and diesel by Rs 3.20 per litre and Rs 3.90 a litre, respectively. In Sikkim, both the fuel products have been made cheaper by Rs 7 per litre.

Rajasthan has cut value added tax on petrol by Rs 4 and diesel by Rs 5.