Fuel Price Cuts: Center announced a cut in petrol excise tax by Rs 8 per litre.
New Delhi:
The Union’s Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Saturday thanked the Center for its visionary decision to reduce central excise taxes on petrol and diesel and said it was Prime Minister Modi’s unwavering commitment to citizens’ concerns. underlines and demonstrates its leadership in crisis situations.
“Grateful to Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji and FM Nirmala Sitharaman ji for the visionary decision to cut central excise tax on petrol by Rs 8/ltr and diesel by Rs 6/ltr which will translate into a reduction in petrol price by Rs 9 .5/ltr and diesel at Rs 7/ltr Cost of Rs 1 lakh cr/year to the Treasury,” Mr Puri said in a tweet.
Today’s decisions, along with steps to curb the rise in prices of key infrastructure materials such as cement, steel and plastics, will bring relief to thousands of Indian families on a massive scale and provide crucial support to the Indian economy amid a challenging global inflationary environment.
— Hardeep Singh Puri (@HardeepSPuri) May 21, 2022
The Union minister said: “This decision follows the central tax cut of 21 rupees from Rs 5 on petrol and Rs 10 on diesel. It underlines Prime Minister Modi Ji’s unwavering commitment to the concerns of citizens and shows leadership of the Prime Minister in crisis situations, despite some states’ refusal to accept price cuts and extraordinary supply constraints.”
Further emphasizing that despite this second cut in central excise duties, the price of petrol and diesel in states like Maharashtra, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand and Kerala remains about Rs 10-15 higher than in BJP-led governed states, the Union minister said it is time for these states to wake up and cut VAT to provide relief to their consumers.
“This is due to the refusal of their respective state governments to lower VAT. It is time for these states to wake up and lower VAT to provide relief to their consumers,” he added.
Earlier on Saturday, in an important step to relieve people from high fuel prices, the Center announced a cut in excise duty on petrol by Rs 8 per liter and on diesel by Rs 6 per liter.
Finance Minister Sitharman made the announcement in tweets and said the move will have a revenue implication of around Rs 1 lakh crore per year.
She also urged states to also lower sales tax on petroleum products to ease the common man.
Last November, on the eve of Diwali, the government also cut excise duties on petrol and diesel. It had reduced the excise tax on petrol by Rs 5 per liter and on diesel by Rs 10 per liter.
