Centre slashes fuel excise duty; Petrol to be cheaper by Rs 9.5, diesel by Rs 7 per litre
This will reduce the price of petrol by Rs 9.5 per litre and of diesel by Rs 7 per litre.
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FollowCentre announces reduction in the central excise duty on petrol by Rs 8 per litre and on diesel by Rs 6 per litre. This will reduce the price of petrol by Rs 9.5 per litre and of diesel by Rs 7 per litre.
Informing the nation of the excise duty cut, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman requested all state governments, especially those where a reduction was not done during the last round, to also implement the cuts and provide relief to the common man. The excise duty cut is expected to have a revenue implication of around Rs 1 lakh crore every year for the government.
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According to government sources, the consumption of petrol and diesel has increased in the recent months despite a sharp jump in prices.
While acknowledging that the world is today passing through difficult times even as it had been recovering from Covid-19, Nirmala said that the Ukraine conflict had resulted in a shortage of various goods and supply chain problems. This, she said, was leading to inflation and economic distress in many countries.
The Finance Minister said that the decision to slash the central excise duty was taken keeping in mind the Prime Minister Narendra Modi's commitment to helping the poor and common man. She informed that the Prime Minister's Office had specifically asked all arms of the government to work with sensitivity and provide relief to the common man.
No hike since 45 days
The fuel rates have remained untouched for the last 45 days. The last hike in petrol and diesel rates was on April 6 when the cost per litre was pushed up by 80 paise. In the 16 days prior to that, the petrol and diesel prices were hiked 14 times. Overall, between March 22 and April 6, the overall hike was Rs 10 per litre.
Before Saturday's excise duty cut by the Centre, a litre of petrol in Delhi cost Rs 105.41 while diesel cost Rs 96.67. In Chennai, the petrol and diesel prices were Rs 110.85 and Rs 100.94 per litre respectively.
In Kolkata, the price of petrol was Rs 115.12 per litre while diesel was priced at Rs 99.83 per litre. In Bengaluru, a litre of petrol was being charged at Rs 111.09 while diesel cost Rs 94.79.
Petrol pump dealers' warning
The government announcement came a day after a consortium of the petrol pump dealers cautioned the central government that there may be a shortage at retail outlets due to rationing of fuel supply for retail sales by oil marketing companies (OMC) in order to curb their losses. This, they said, would cause law and order problems.
In their letter, the Consortium of Indian Petroleum Dealers said that OMCs have resorted to curtailed supply on the grounds that they are losing Rs 28 per litre on diesel and Rs 8 per litre on petrol.
They further claimed that the OMCs had been advising them to exercise restraint in selling fuel to new customers (industrial use or for generators) and cater to only existing customers.
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