Govt hikes excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 3 per litre

The government Saturday announced a hike in excise duty on both diesel and petrol by Rs 3 per litre. Special excise duty on petrol was hiked by Rs 2 to Rs 8 per litre incase of petrol and to Rs 4 for diesel. Apart from this, road cess on petrol was raised by Rs 1 per litre each on petrol and diesel to Rs 10, PTI reported.

Before this development, petrol and diesel prices on Tuesday saw the biggest hike since July 5 Budget amid concern over spike in global oil prices. Petrol price was increased by 14 paisa per litre to Rs 72.17 and diesel by 15 paisa to Rs 65.58 per litre in the national capital, according to price information available from state-owned oil firms.

The latest price hike again comes in response to the fall in international oil prices. Crude oil prices plunged 25 percent on Monday. Prices fell as much as 31 per cent following the Saudi move to start a price war after Russia balked at making the further steep output cuts proposed by OPEC to stabilize oil markets hit by worries over the global spread of the coronavirus.

The increase in excise duty of petrol and diesel would usually result in a subsequent price hike, but most of it would be adjusted against the rate fall due to a slump in international oil prices.

(Inputs and image from theindianexpress.com)