The Centre may be looking to raise excise duty on petrol and diesel by up to Rs 5 per litre to partly fund its rising Covid-related expenses but the burden may not immediately be passed on to consumers.
If that happens, the total incidence of excise duty on petrol will rise to Rs 37.98 per litre and on diesel, it will go up to Rs 36.98 per litre. Excise on petrol was Rs 9.48 per litre and on diesel it was Rs 3. 56 a litre in 2014 when the Narendra Modi government took office. India still pays less than Rs 30 per litre for a litre of crude oil.
The Centre has since 2014 hiked duty on petrol and diesel 10 times.
“The economic recovery is still fragile. The government will try its best to resist the move but the tranche of Covid stimulus may necessitate a duty hike,” an official source in the know told DH.
However, the source said the pump prices of both the fuels may not go up even if the hike is effected.
The government had raised the special additional excise duty by Rs 12 on petrol and Rs 9 on diesel earlier.
(Published 26 October 2020, 18:39 IST)
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