A day ahead of Diwali, India on Wednesday said the excise duty on petrol and diesel will be reduced from Nov 4, 2021.The excise duty on petrol has been cut by Rs 5 per litre, and that on diesel by Rs 10 per litre effective Thursday.
“Government of India has taken a significant decision of reducing Central Excise Duty on Petrol & Diesel by Rs 5 and Rs 10 respectively from tomorrow. Prices of petrol and diesel will thus come down accordingly,” said Ministry of Finance in a statement.
States have been urged by the Centre to reduce value added tax (VAT) on both the fuels to give relief to consumers.
However the reduction has been announced at a time when petrol and diesel prices have been touching all time highs across the country. The relief, as such therefore will only be marginal.
On Wednesday, petrol price in Delhi stood at ₹ 110.04 per litre while diesel was being sold for ₹ 98.42. In Mumbai, petrol price was ₹ 115.85 while diesel stood at ₹ 106.62 per litre.
Excise duty on petrol was hiked from ₹ 19.98 per litre to ₹ 32.9 last year to recoup gain arising from international oil prices plunging to multi-year low as pandemic gulped demand.
Meanwhile the government further said that reduction in excise duty on petrol and diesel will also boost consumption and keep inflation low, thus helping the poor and middle classes.
