Madhya Pradesh Congress president Kamal Nath Monday demanded that the state government reduce VAT on fuel two times of what has been done in neighbouring Rajasthan. Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje Sunday announced a four per cent reduction in value added tax on petrol and diesel which in turn would bring down their prices by Rs 2.5 per litre in the BJP-ruled state.

Raje, speaking at a public meeting organised in Rawatsar in Hanumangarh district there, had said that VAT on petrol will be reduced from 30 to 26 per cent and on diesel from 22 to 18 per cent. "The Madhya Pradesh government should reduce VAT on petrol and diesel two times of what has been done in Rajasthan," Nath told reporters here Monday. "When the price of crude in the international market was USD 122 per barrel, the cost of petrol was around Rs 55 per litre. Now the price of crude is USD 70-72 per barrel, but the cost of petrol is Rs 86 per litre," Nath, a former Union commerce minister, said.