Excise duty on petrol News

After the long-standing demand, the central government has given great relief to the people. Center has reduced the excise duty on petrol and diesel. The Center has reduced tax by Rs 8 on petrol and Rs 6 on diesel. After this, petrol has become cheaper by Rs 9.50 and diesel by Rs 7.But after this cut, politics has started. The opposition has targeted the government.

The government had increased petrol and diesel prices on numerous occasions in the past few months. The base price of per litre petrol is Rs 57.13 in Delhi. Excise duty on petrol now stands at Rs 19.90 per litre.

After the long-standing demand, the central government has given great relief to the people. Center has reduced the excise duty on petrol and diesel. The Center has reduced tax by Rs 8 on petrol and Rs 6 on diesel. After this, petrol has become cheaper by Rs 9.50 and diesel by Rs 7.

 Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan further said that the petroleum sector would be brought under the ambit of the Goods and Services tax (GST) as and when the consensus is reached among the states.

Globally, oil prices rose 3.5 percent on Monday, hitting the highest since early July 2015, as Saudi Arabia's crown prince cemented his power with an anti-corruption crackdown, while the US rig count fell and markets continued to tighten.  

The government this week cut excise duty by Rs 2 per litre as part of efforts to reduce the prices of petrol and diesel.

Government may not cut excise duty on petrol and diesel in the near-term if it accepts the suggestions made in the approach paper submitted by Chief Economic Adviser for maintaining status quo when oil prices can climb by another USD 15 a barrel.

A litre of petrol cost Rs 71.41 in May 2014 when international oil was at USD 106.85 per barrel but even after over two-third fall in global rates, the price of petrol has witnessed only 16 percent decline and remains at Rs 60 per litre.  

The increase in excise duty will fetch the government over Rs 3,200 crore during the remainder period of the fiscal.

The government on Saturday hiked excise duty on petrol by Re 1 per litre and by Rs 1.5 a litre on diesel, the fourth increase in duties in less than six weeks.  

After the fourth reduction in rates in six weeks, petrol in Delhi will cost Rs 59.03 per litre.

Basic excise duty on unbranded or normal petrol has been increased from Rs 7.73 to Rs 8.48 per litre and the same on unbranded diesel from Rs 7.83 to Rs 9.83 per litre.  

Petrol and diesel prices are set to cost more as government is likely to hike  excise duty on petrol and diesel before March for boosting revenue and meet its fiscal deficit target.

On diesel, total excise duty after including special excise duty will be Rs 13.83  per litre as compared to Rs 11.83 now.

The government Friday night hiked excise duty on petrol by Rs 1.60 per litre and the same on diesel by 40 paisa a litre to mop up additional revenue to meet budgetary targets.

The government had in four installments raised excise duty on petrol and diesel between November and January to take away the reduction in retail rates that was warranted from falling international oil prices.

The government has changed the excise duty structure on branded or premium diesel, shifting from fixed rates to a combination of ad valorem and fixed duty.

The government on Tuesday said it has no plans to roll-back the recent hike in excise duty on diesel and petrol.

Shares of three listed state-owned oil marketing companies (OMC) fell up to 4 percent at close today, after the government raised excise duty on petrol by Rs 2.25 per litre and by Re 1 a litre on diesel.