Petrol, diesel on rise but govt non-committal on lowering excise duty

Even though petrol and diesel prices have been rising unabated, Finance Minister Piyush Goyal said cutting excise duty on the fuels may hit the Centre's finances.

“There is a pressure on the government to cut excise duty on the two fuels to lower the impact of rising crude oil prices but such measure may hit finances of the Centre,” he said at an event on Friday.

Goyal said that states and the Centre along with oil marketing companies are trying to bring a policy to balance the rate fluctuations so that consumers do not feel the pinch and continue to get fuel at lower rates.

This, he said, will also ensure a good tax collection.

The government has, however, not held any meeting with oil marketing companies in the past week as the oil minister was pre-occupied with the prime minister's Odisha visit to mark the NDA government's four-year anniversary celebrations.

Petrol price rose to Rs 78.12/ litre in Delhi and in Mumbai it was the highest at Rs 85.93/ litre.

Diesel price, too, rose an all time high and crossed the Rs 69/ litre mark in the national capital.

The Centre's excise duty on petrol and diesel stands at Rs 19.48/ litre and 15.33/ litre respectively.

The next GST Council meeting, whose is date is yet to be decided, is expected to take up the issue of petrol and diesel being brought into the GST ambit.