The excise duty on petrol and diesel has been increased by a steep Rs 3 per litre each to get about Rs 39,000 crore additional revenue.
Retail prices of petrol and diesel will not be changed as it will be adjusted in accordance with the falling global oil prices. The government is repeating its 2014-15 act of not passing on gains arising from slump in international oil prices.
Special excise duty on petrol has been hiked by Rs 2 to Rs 8 per litre in case of petrol and to Rs 4 a litre from Rs 2 in case of diesel. Similarly, road cess has been raised by Re 1 per litre each on petrol and diesel, bringing it to Rs 10 for both the fuel.
The total excise duty on petrol stands at Rs 22.98 per litre and that on diesel at Rs 18.83.
The tax on petrol was Rs 9.48 per litre in 2014.
The govt is reportedly increasing duty to raise more revenue in view of a tight fiscal situation.
Petrol prices have reduced by over Rs 6 since January till now. Petrol is priced at ₹ 68.83 a litre in Bhubaneswar and diesel costs ₹ 66.99 now. Diesel was priced at ₹ 74.14 on January 15, 2020.
