The central government on Wednesday slashed the excise duty on aviation turbine fuel (ATF) from 14 per cent to 11 per cent. This comes almost a week after the government announced a cut in excise duty of petrol and diesel by Rs 1.50 per litre.


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This comes as a relief to the aviation industry that has been hit hard by high fuel prices.


According to news agency PTI, a notification in this regard was issued by the Revenue Department of the Union Finance Ministry. The notification said that the duty change would "come into force with effect from the 11th day of October, 2018."


Notably, the aviation ministry has been pitching for inclusion of ATF in the goods and services tax regime, stating that the move will help cut the cost as airlines would get input tax credit.


ATF constitutes approximately 35-40 percent of operational cost of an airline in India.


Airlines, which are making a persistent demand for this, maintain that they would get an annual relief of Rs 3,000 to Rs 5,000 crore if ATF is included in GST.


(With agency inputs)