Excise duty on petrol, diesel calibrated to generate resources for infrastruture development: Finance Ministry

The excise duty rates on petrol and diesel have been calibrated to generate resources for infrastructure building and other developmental expenditure keeping in view the prevailing fiscal situation, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said on Tuesday.

In a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha, the minister said petrol price had gone up by Rs 3.83 a litre in May, Rs 4.58 in June and Rs 2.73 in July (up to July 16).

In April, the prices of petrol and diesel were revised down by Rs 0.16 and Rs 0.14 a litre, respectively.

Also read — Excise on petrol, diesel gives govt Rs 94,181 cr in 3 months, Rs 3.35 lakh cr in FY21

The retail selling price of diesel rose by Rs 4.42 a litre in May, Rs 4.03 in June and Rs 0.69 in July (up to July 16).

The retail selling price of petrol and diesel in Delhi on July 16, 2021, stood at Rs 101.54/litre and Rs 89.87/litre respectively, he said.

"The excise duty rates on petrol and diesel have been calibrated to generate resources for infrastructure and other developmental items of expenditure keeping in view the prevailing fiscal situation," Chaudhary said.

In the first three months (April-June) of the current fiscal, the total excise duty collected on petrol and diesel was Rs 94,181 crore.

Excise collections on petrol and diesel jumped by 88 per cent to Rs 3.35 lakh crore in the last fiscal ended March 31, 2021, after excise duty was raised to a record high.

Excise duty on petrol was hiked from Rs 19.98 per litre to Rs 32.9 last year to recoup gains arising from international oil prices plunging to multi-year low as the pandemic gulped demand. The same on diesel was raised to Rs 31.8 from Rs 15.83 a litre.

The prices of petrol and diesel are market-determined with effect from June 26, 2010, and October 19, 2014, respectively. Since then, the public sector oil marketing companies (OMCs) have been taking appropriate decisions on the pricing of petrol and diesel on the basis of international product prices and other market conditions.

The OMCs have increased and decreased the prices of petrol and diesel according to changes in international prices and rupee-dollar exchange rate, he said.

"The government is making concerted efforts to raise resources for infrastructure and other developmental items of expenditure, the details of which were announced in the annual Budget.

"The excise duty rates on petrol and diesel have been calibrated to generate these resources keeping in view the prevailing fiscal situation. VAT on petrol and diesel are levied by states," he added.

Chaudhary was replying to a separate question on whether the government proposes to cut down high excise duty on petrol and diesel and whether it will continue to increase excise duty and VAT on these products.