"The state is facing drought and a lot of money has been diverted from the regular development programmes to drought mitigation," Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan told reporters here.
He said they have not yet discussed the petrol price hike. "Last time when the Central government appealed to us to reduce VAT and prices of certain petroleum commodities, we did that," he added.
The government cannot reduce VAT beyond a certain limit. However, the decision is not final and it will be discussed with alliance partner Nationalist Congress Party, he said.
After the petrol prices were hiked, the NCP, one of the key alliance partners at Centre, opposed the move and also skipped the Cabinet meeting.
