Central Government Cuts Excise Duty On Fuel : Petrol Cheaper By Rs. 9.5 and Diesel By Rs. 7 Per Litre

Keeping in mind the spiralling prices of fuel, the central government today took a big step in providing relief to the common man. The Centre announced reduction of excise duty this evening.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman tweets: We are reducing the Central excise duty on Petrol by ₹ 8 per litre and on Diesel by ₹ 6 per litre. This will reduce the price of petrol by ₹ 9.5 per litre and of Diesel by ₹ 7 per litre. It will have revenue implication of around ₹ 1 lakh crore/year for the government.

“We’ve taken a number of steps to help the poor and middle class. As a result, the average inflation during our tenure has remained lower than during previous governments,” she said.

Presently, petrol is selling at over ₹ 100 in most parts of the country. The rates vary across states due to the value-added tax (VAT).

India is hevily dependent on imports to meet its oil needs and the domestic petrol and diesel prices are linked to international rates.

April saw India’s wholesale and consumer prices accelerate at their fastest in years, prompting the central bank to hike interest rates at an unscheduled policy meeting this month.

Here are the 5 top announcements made by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today:

1. Excise duty cut by ₹ 8 per litre on petrol, by ₹ 6 per litre on diesel. This will reduce the price of petrol by ₹ 9.5 per litre and of Diesel by ₹ 7 per litre.
2. A fertiliser subsidy of ₹ 1.10 crore, which will be in addition to the ₹ 1.05 Lakh crore in this year’s budget.
3. A subsidy of ₹ 200 per gas cylinder to over 9 crore beneficiaries of Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana.
4. Reduction on the customs duty on raw materials and intermediaries for plastic products where India’s import dependence is high.
5. Import duty on some raw materials of steel will be reduced. Export duty to be levied on some steel products.