Excise Duty On Petrol, Diesel Increased By Rs 2, No Impact On People
Petrol and diesel prices in India are set to rise as the government has hiked excise duty on both fuels by Rs 2 per litre. The move comes at a time when global crude oil prices are actually on a downward trend, driven by fears of a global trade war sparked by the US administration’s reciprocal tariffs. This hike is expected to impact consumers already dealing with inflationary pressures. While the government may be looking to boost revenues, the timing has sparked concerns, especially amid the uncertainty surrounding Donald Trump’s tariffs, as higher fuel costs could further squeeze household budgets and drive up transportation and commodity prices.
As per the latest notification by the Finance Ministry, the said change will come into effect on April 8, 2025.The Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry said, “PSU Oil Marketing Companies have informed that there will be no increase in retail prices of petrol and diesel, subsequent to the increase effected in Excise Duty Rates today.” The government had cut excise duty by Rs 2 in October 2017, and by Rs 1.50 a year later. But it raised excise duty by Rs 2 per litre in July 2019. It again raised excise duty on March 2020, by Rs 3 per litre each. Excise duty was raised by Rs 13 and Rs 16 per litre on petrol and diesel between March 2020 and May 2020.
But in the following years, it rolled back the Rs 13 and Rs 16 per litre excise duty hike as international oil prices soared. This helped bring down petrol prices from a record hike of Rs Rs 105.41 a litre in Delhi and highest ever diesel rate of Rs 96.67. Just before general elections were announced last year, the government had cut petrol and diesel prices by Rs 2 a litre each. Petrol currently costs Rs 94.77 a lire in Delhi and Rs 87.67 is the price for a litre of diesel.
In all, the duty on petrol rate was hiked Rs 11.77 per litre and that on diesel by 13.47 a litre in those 15 months which helped the government’s excise mop-up more than double to Rs 2,42,000 crore in 2016-17, from Rs 99,000 crore in 2014-15.
