Govt hikes excise duty on diesel by Rs 1.5 a litre, on petrol by Re 1

Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: The government on Saturday hiked excise duty on petrol by Re 1 per litre and by Rs 1.5 a litre on diesel, the fourth increase in duties in less than six weeks.

Basic excise duty on unbranded or normal petrol has been increased from Rs 8.48 per litre to Rs 9.48 and the same on unbranded diesel from Rs 9.83 to Rs 11.33 per litre, a notification of the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) said.

The hike will not result in any increase in retail selling price of the two fuels as it would adjust against the reduction in rates that may have been possible because of the slide in international oil prices.

The increase in excise duty will fetch the government over Rs 3,200 crore during the remainder period of the fiscal.

This is the fourth time in less than six weeks that excise duty is being hiked to make use of the slump in oil prices to garner resources for the government without burdening consumers.

The government had on January 15 hiked excise duty on petrol by Rs 0.75 per litre and by Rs 2 a litre on diesel.

Taken together with the November 7, 2015 increase in excise duty on petrol of Rs 1.60 per litre and diesel by 30 paise, this is the fifth hike in levies this fiscal.

With Agency Inputs