Fuel Prices: Excise Duty Hiked By Rs 3 Per Litre, Likely To Be Adjusted Against International Oil Prices Slump

The Modi government hiked the excise duty on diesel and petrol by Rs 3 per litre on Saturday. In an official notification, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) announced that the special excise duty on petrol was hiked by Rs 2 to Rs 8 per litre in case of petrol while it was raised to Rs 4 in the case of diesel. In the aftermath of changes, to come into effect from Saturday, the excise duty on petrol will stand at Rs 22.98 from 19.98 while it has gone up to Rs 18.83 from Rs 15.83.

In addition to this, the road cess on petrol was raised by Rs 1 per litre. The hike in the excise duties are expected to be adjusted against slump in international oil prices.

Earlier, the global oil prices went down by almost 30 percent, with Brent crude prices falling to USD 32 per barrel. The tremors of the decline in the prices of crude oil was felt in the Indian equity market also.

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On March 9, Sensex recorded its worst ever intra-day fall at over 2,200 points. Moreover, India which imports almost 85 percent of its oil requirement, is likely to be the biggest gainer due to the slump in international crude prices.

The decline in oil prices may result in a lower import bill and the current account deficit could be adjusted.

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According to an India Today report, every decline of USD 10 per barrel, would mean a saving of USD 15 billion in India’s import bill. In the financial year 2018-19, the oil import costed USD 111.9 billion which was USD 87.9 in the financial year 2017-18.

According to latest updates, the current diesel prices in Delhi is Rs 62.58 per litre while petrol prices stand at Rs 69.87 litre.

(With PTI inputs)