Nirmala rebuts Opposition’s criticism

NEW DELHI: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday rebutted the Opposition’s criticism of excise duty cut impacting share of states in central taxes, saying the Rs 8 a litre cut in petrol and Rs 6 reduction in diesel have been done in road and infrastructure cess levied on the two fuels, collection on which was never shared with states.

Taking to Twitter, Sitharaman said she is sharing some useful facts on levies on petrol and diesel for the benefit of all. “Basic Excise Duty (BED), Special Additional Excise duty (SAED),Road & Infrastructure Cess (RIC) and Agriculture & Infrastructure Development Cess (AIDC) together constitute Excise Duty on petrol and diesel.Basic ED is sharable with states. SAED,RIC & AIDC are non-sharable,” she said.

The excise duty reduction of Rs 8 per litre on petrol and Rs 6 a litre on diesel has entirely been made in RIC, she added.