TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar on Thursday announced a hike in petrol and diesel prices in the State, hiking them by Rs 2 and Re 1 respectively from August 1. “We had reduced the petrol prices by Rs 11 when BJP government was sworn in, in March 2012. But now, with government in need of money for the development of the State, the prices will have to be increased. From August 1 onwards petrol prices would be hiked by Rs 2 and diesel by Re 1,” Parrikar told the Assembly Thursday evening.
The Chief Minister said that the hike would fetch a revenue of Rs 7 crore a month with total Rs 84 crore to be added to the funds annually. “We will divert this money into infrastructure development fund and use it for creating infrastructure like power, roads, water, sewage,” Parrikar said justifying that government needs around Rs 3,000 to Rs 4,000 crore to spend on infrastructure in the next three years.Goa is one of the states in which the prices of petrol and diesel are the lowest. The price of petrol in the State is currently between Rs 62 to 61 while that of diesel price is around Rs 55.Government has also hinted at increasing power tariffs.
