The Pinarayi government, which came to power by saying that there will be no price rise, has adopted ways of completely deceiving the people in this regard for some time. It has to be said that this time too, as usual, alcohol and petrol prices have become the constant haunts of finance ministers. And there has been an increase in all other sectors. The price of liquor, petrol and diesel is increased in the name of social security cess.
Petrol and diesel have been hiked by Rs 2 per liter each in the state. With this, petrol prices will be higher in Kerala than other states. Petrol and diesel are still cheaper in Karnataka than in Kerala. Kerala imposes a special cess for this. With this, Kerala will become the state with the highest oil price in the country.
Earlier, the central government had reduced the cess on oil prices, but the Kerala government was not ready to reduce the state tax. Moreover, the Center had come forward with accusations of price hike. At present, if we compare Kerala’s border state with Karnataka, there will be a big difference in petrol and diesel.
There will be a difference of six rupees in the price of petrol, while there will be a difference of nine rupees in the price of diesel.
At the same time, with the increase in oil prices, there will also be an increase in prices in the general market in Kerala. Kerala has decided to mobilize an additional Rs 750 crore for the Social Security Seed Fund through this cess.
Meanwhile, social security cess has also been imposed on alcohol. A social security cess of Rs 20 per bottle is levied on Indian-made foreign liquor priced between Rs 500 and Rs 999 and Rs 40 per bottle on liquor priced above Rs 1,000. 400 Crores are planned to be raised through this.
The introduction of Social Security Cess is a decision that creates crisis for the people. Allegations have been raised that there will be an increase in prices in the state due to this. Apart from this, many other decisions make public life very difficult. The fair value of the land has been increased by 20 percent. The decision to increase the price is to cover the gap between the market value and the fair value. Electricity duty increased by 5 percent. The stamp duty for flats and apartments has been increased by two percent. The Finance Minister also announced that the building tax will be increased. Along with building tax, application fee, inspection fee and permit fee will also be revised.
In the budget, the finance minister announced that tax on fossil fuel vehicles including two-wheelers will be increased and tax on electric vehicles will be reduced. Newly purchased motorcycles worth up to Rs 2 lakh will be taxed by two percent. Tax on newly purchased cars and other vehicles purchased for personal use has also been increased. Cars priced up to Rs 5 lakh will be taxed by one per cent, those priced between Rs 5 lakh and Rs 15 lakh by two per cent and cars priced between Rs 15 lakh and Rs 30 lakh by one per cent.
Cess levied at the time of vehicle registration has been doubled. Cess for two-wheelers is now Rs 50 and has been increased to Rs 100. It has been increased from Rs 100 to Rs 200 for light motor vehicles, from Rs 150 to Rs 300 for medium motor vehicles and from Rs 250 to Rs 500 for heavy vehicles. 2000 crore has been allocated in the budget to deal with the threat of price rise. 600 crores have also been sanctioned for rubber subsidy. There is no increase in social security pension either. The welfare pension will remain at Rs.1600.
