Excise duty on petrol reduced by Rs 8 per litre, diesel by Rs 6

CHENNAI: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday announced Rs 8 per litre cut in excise duty on petrol and Rs 6 a litre on diesel to avoid increase in fuel prices, this was due to surge in international oil prices.

"We are reducing 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," said Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

1/12 Our government, since when @PMOIndia @narendramodi took office, is
devoted to the welfare of the poor.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.

— Nirmala Sitharaman (@nsitharaman) May 21, 2022

"We are also reducing the customs duty on raw materials & intermediaries for plastic products where our import dependence is high. Import duty on some raw materials of steel will be reduced. Export duty on some steel products will be levied," she added.

The government will also give Rs 200 per cylinder subsidy to Ujjwala Yojana beneficiaries for 12 cylinders in a year to help ease burden arising from cooking gas rates rising to record levels.

"This will help our mothers and sisters. This will have a revenue implication of around Rs 6100 crore a year," she said. The minister also referred to the Ukraine conflict and said in addition of the fertilizer subsidy of Rs 1.05 lakh crore announced in the budget, an additional amount of Rs 1.10 lakh crore is being provided to help the farmers. "Despite rising fertilizer prices globally, we have protected our farmers from such price hikes. In addition to the fertilizer subsidy of Rs 1.05 lakh crore in the budget, an additional amount of Rs 1.10 lakh crore is being provided to further cushion our farmers," she added.