Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, earlier being adamant on not reducing VAT on petrol and diesel, has finally taken a U-turn indicating possibilities of slashing tax on petrol and diesel in Rajasthan.

Many state governments have reduced the VAT after the initiative taken by the Central government.

In a meeting organised in Jodhpur's Jaleli Faujdar village on Tuesday, Gehlot said, "When all the states have reduced the prices of petrol and diesel, then we will also have to reduce them."

Earlier, Gehlot remained adamant saying that this slash would affect the income of the state.

"The economic condition of the state is already bad. In such a situation, we will not reduce VAT on petrol and diesel," he had said earlier. Congress-ruled Punjab also reduced VAT recently. Eventually, Rajasthan was left as the only state where petrol and diesel are the most expensive.

During his visit to Jaleli Faujdar village, he said in the meeting, "Our government will also provide relief to the people by reducing VAT on petrol and diesel."

He said that the Central Government had robbed the people a lot by forcibly taxing petrol and diesel. 'Now a little relief has been provided. The central government should further reduce the tax on petrol and diesel'. He said that the state government would bear the loss due to reduction of VAT in the state.

(With inputs from IANS)