Mizoram has collected over ₹93 crore through a ₹4 per litre fuel cess since September 2024, funding roads, education, health, and social services under CM Lalduhoma. Important Words: Mizoram, ₹93 crore, fuel cess, ₹4 per litre, Lalduhoma, roads, education, health, social services.
Since September 2024, Chief Minister Lalduhoma told the state Assembly that the Mizoram government has collected over ₹93.37 crore in a fuel cess. The cess was provided under the effort of the state government to generate specific funds to fund social infrastructure and roads. The Chief Minister says that the revenue collected by this levy is being channelled to sectors that would help strengthen the services and infrastructure of the people in the state.
It was launched in September 2024, with the Mizoram government imposing a ₹4 per litre tax on petrol and diesel. This tax is split into two different segments. Among the total money raised per litre ₹2 is used in social infrastructure and services with the rest ₹2 slated to maintain the roads. The Zoram People movement (ZPM) government introduced the measure that also increased the Value Added Tax (VAT) on petrol and diesel.
As the details were being given in the Assembly, Lalduhoma, the finance minister, who also has the Finance portfolio, explained the factors that have led to the collections since the introduction of the cess. The government received ₹46.68 crore in the two cess categories during the period between October and December 2024. One of them was allocated to the social infrastructure and services fund and the other was allocated to road maintenance. These are finances that are meant to finance development projects within the respective sectors.
The charge was also still profitable in the next year. During April 2025 to December of that year, the government received ₹33.43 crore a year in the form of the social infrastructure and services cess and the road maintenance fund. The earnings recorded in these months helped a great deal in the total amount collected since the introduction of the cess. The total sum collected by the fuel cess when added to the previous collections now amounts to over ₹93 crore.
The Chief Minister also presented information on how the funds of the social infrastructure component have been used in the past during his address in the Assembly. In his view, ₹9 crore has been already allocated to five departments in this category. Some of the departments that were allocated funds include the Health Department, the Education Department and the Social Welfare Department. Such allocations are to be used in infrastructure and services in these sectors.
The government has also indicated how the funds raised under social infrastructure and services cess were to be distributed. According to Lalduhoma, 60 percent of the funds will go to the education sector. The other 40 percent will be divided equally between social sector and health and wellness sector. This allocation is aimed at having revenue produced due to the fuel cess to help in enhancing the basic services that have a direct impact on the daily lives of people.
The road maintenance aspect of the cess has also been channelled to the development of infrastructure in the state together with the social infrastructure. The Chief Minister stated that the government has provided a budget of ₹15 crore in the 2025-26 state budget on road construction and maintenance works. They will be the works done under the Mizoram State Road Fund Board of the Public Works Department that will do the maintenance and improvement of the road networks within the state.
Infrastructure development is another key development aspect that is still being considered in Mizoram where geography and accessibility have been a big challenge. The funds to be allocated during the road maintenance cess is supposed to help in maintaining and developing roads, which are vital in transportation, access to services and economic activities.
As demonstrated within the Assembly, the use of the fuel cess as a special source of revenue to the state government can be emphasized. The levy has raised considerable amount of money since it was implemented in September 2024 and the amount is being redirected to other sectors, including education, health, social welfare, and road maintenance. The government strategy has been to break the revenue into two distinct categories to have the funds channelled towards dissimilar purposes.
The fuel cess has already become a significant element of the Mizoram fiscal policy of meeting infrastructure and governmental activities with over ₹93 crore collected to date. The current disbursements have shown that money collected through the levy is being utilized to support the work in major areas as well as fund the upkeep and improvement of roads within the state.
The information made by Chief Minister Lalduhoma in the Assembly gives a summary of the role played by the cess in bringing revenue to the government ever since it was introduced. Since the levy is still generating revenues, it has been considered as one of the primary instruments by which the state government is trying to promote infrastructural growth and reinforcement of the necessary services in Mizoram.
Clear Cut Education, Health Desk
New Delhi, UPDATED: March 06, 2026 09:00 IST
Written By: Priyanka Thakur
