'Entire Burden of Duty Cuts Borne by Centre': FM Sitharaman Hits Back at Oppn

The Union government has reduced the excise duty on petrol by Rs 8 per litre and diesel by Rs 6 per litre.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. 

(Photo Courtesy: Twitter/Taranjit Singh Sandhu)

Responding to the Opposition's censure prompted by the slash in the excise duty on fuel, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman took to Twitter on Sunday, 22 May, and said that 'the entire burden of the two duty cuts is borne by the Centre.'

The Union government on Saturday, reduced the excise duty on petrol by Rs 8 per litre and diesel by Rs 6 per litre. Prior to this, the Centre had announced cuts in November 2021.

"Basic Excise Duty (BED), Special Additional Excise duty (SAED), Road & Infrastructure Cess (RIC) and Agriculture & Infrastructure Development Cess (AIDC) together constitute Excise Duty on petrol and diesel. Basic ED is sharable with states. SAED, RIC & AIDC are non-sharable," the Finance minister wrote in a tweet.

Elaborating on the total cost borne by the Centre, she added:

"The duty reduction made yesterday has an implication of Rs 1,00,000 crore a year for Centre. The duty reduction made in November 21 has an implication of Rs 1,20,000 crore a year for Centre. Total revenue implication to Centre, on these two duty cuts is thus ₹ 2,20,000 crore a year."

Nirmala Sitharaman

In a retort directed at the Opposition, the Union minister also stressed that the comparative data shows that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has spent more on developmental expenditure and subsidies, than the Congress-led UPA administration.

Following the announcement on Saturday, the general secretary of the Congress Party, Randeep Singh Surjewala, expressed his opinions on the price cut in a series of tweets, saying that the government is 'befooling' people.