Centre Slashes Excise Duty on Petrol by Rs 8 per Litre, Diesel by Rs 6

"This will reduce the price of petrol by Rs 9.5 per litre and of diesel by Rs 7," the finance minister said.

Image used for representation.

(Photo: The Quint)

The Union government on Saturday, 21 May, reduced the excise duty on petrol by Rs 8 per litre and diesel by Rs 6 per litre, announced Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

"This will reduce the price of petrol by Rs 9.5 per litre and of diesel by Rs 7 per litre," she said.

Sitharaman: Govt Devoted to Welfare of the Poor

In a series of 12 tweets, Sitharaman listed out reasons for the economic crisis facing the country and announced measures "to help our people."

Sitharaman wrote, "Even as the world is recovering from Covid-19 pandemic, the Ukraine conflict has brought in supply chain problems and shortages of various goods. This is resulting in inflation & economic distress in a lot of countries."

The finance minister added, "Despite rising fertilizer prices globally, we have protected our farmers from such price hikes. In addition to the fertilizer subsidy of ₹ 1.05 lakh crore in the budget, an additional amount of ₹ 1.10 lakh crore is being provided to further cushion our farmers."

Other Key Announcements

Here are the other key announcements made:

• A subsidy of ₹200 per gas cylinder (upto 12 cylinders) to be given to over 9 crore beneficiaries of Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana.

• Customs duty to be reduced on raw materials and intermediaries for plastic products where India's import dependence is high.

• Customs duty to be calibrated on raw materials and intermediaries for iron and steel, so as to reduce their prices. Import duty on some raw materials of steel will be reduced, and export duty on some steel products will be levied.