The government increased the excise duty on petrol by sharp Rs.1.60 for a litre, while extra 40 paisa duty will be charged on diesel to boost revenue targets in the annual budget. The Central Board of Excise Duty (CBEC) notification informed that the basic excise duty on unbranded or normal petrol have been increased to Rs.7.06 a litre from Rs.5.46 per litre. The total levy on petrol will be Rs.19.06 now, after adding additional and special excise duty. The total levy was Rs.17.06 earlier.
In terms of diesel, Rs.4.66 excise duty will be charged for each litre. This makes total excise duty on diesel Rs.10.66, which was Rs.10.26 earlier. For branded petrol, the excise duty has been increased to Rs.8.24 per litre from Rs.6.64 per litre. The consumers now have to pay total Rs.12 on branded petrol. In case of a branded diesel, the excise duty will be Rs.7.02 per litre against previous rate of Rs.6.62. Rs.6 per litre would be charged as an additional excise duty.
The falling prices of international oil have resulted in the low retail rates of oil. The government increased the rate of diesel and petrol previously in four steps during November and January by increasing the excise duty. This makes total hike in excise duty on petrol and diesel, Rs.7.75 per litre and Rs.6.50 per litre respectively. The latest data predicts that government earned around Rs.20, 000 crore through the hike. This will help finance ministry to reduce the fiscal deficit, which was the main agenda of finance minister during budget session.
