New Delhi: Petrol and diesel prices are set to increase as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday announced to levy a special additional excise duty as well as a road infrastructure cess of Rs 1 each per litre on petrol and diesel to fund road and infrastructure projects.
What this effectively means is that the prices of petrol will increase by Rs 2 per litre following the duty hike.
Presenting the first full budget of the second term of the Narendra Modi government, Sitharaman also proposed to increase customs duty on gold and other precious metals from 10 per cent to 12.5 per cent
“Crude prices have softened from their highs. This gives me a room to review excise duty and cess on petrol and diesel. I propose to increase Special Additional Excise duty and Road and Infrastructure Cess each by one rupee a litre on petrol and diesel”, the FM said.
“It is also proposed to increase customs duty on gold and other precious metals from 10 per cent to 12.5 per cent”, she added.
