Big Relief: Centre Slashes Excise Duty on Petrol and Diesel  

Giving a big relief to the common man from rising inflation, the Central government on Saturday announced a Rs 8 per litre cut in excise duty on petrol and Rs 6 a litre on diesel. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the Centre was reducing  the excise duty on fuel. 

“We are reducing the central excise duty on petrol by Rs 8 per litre and on diesel by Rs 6 per litre. This will reduce the price of petrol by Rs 9.5 per litre and of diesel by Rs 7 per litre,” the Finance Minister said.

7/12 We are reducing the Central excise duty on Petrol by ₹ 8 per litre and on Diesel by ₹ 6 per litre.
This will reduce the price of petrol by ₹ 9.5 per litre and of Diesel by ₹ 7 per litre.

It will have revenue implication of around ₹ 1 lakh crore/year for the government.

— Nirmala Sitharaman (@nsitharaman) May 21, 2022

Nirmala Sitharaman further  said that the government will give Rs 200 per cylinder subsidy to Ujjwala Yojana beneficiaries and this subsidy will be given for 12 cylinders in a year. Amid rising inflation and cooking gas rates, the Centre has taken this decision to take some burden off of the common man. 

9/12 Also, this year, we will give a subsidy of ₹ 200 per gas cylinder (upto 12 cylinders) to over 9 crore beneficiaries of Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana. This will help our mothers and sisters. This will have a revenue implication of around ₹ 6100 crore a year. #Ujjwala

— Nirmala Sitharaman (@nsitharaman) May 21, 2022

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The Central government is also reducing the customs duty on raw materials & intermediaries for plastic products. “This will result in reduction of cost of final products,” wrote Sitharaman on Twitter. 

Nirmala explained that the Centre has taken these important decisions keeping in line with the government’s commitment to helping the poor and the needy.

“Despite rising fertilizer prices globally, we have protected our farmers from such price hikes. In addition to the fertilizer subsidy of Rs 1.05 lakh crore in the budget, an additional amount of Rs 1.10 lakh crore is being provided to further cushion our farmers,” wrote Sitharaman.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted that today's decisions will significantly reduces the prices of petrol and diesel which will have a cascading effect on other sectors. 

It is always people first for us!

Today’s decisions, especially the one relating to a significant drop in petrol and diesel prices will positively impact various sectors, provide relief to our citizens and further ‘Ease of Living.’ https://t.co/n0y5kiiJOh

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 21, 2022