Centre Slashes Excise Duty on Petrol by Rs 8 per Litre, Diesel by Rs 6

"This will reduce the price of petrol by Rs 9.5 per litre and of diesel by Rs 7," the finance minister said.

The Union government on Saturday, 21 May, reduced the excise duty on petrol by Rs 8 per litre and diesel by Rs 6 per litre, announced Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

"This will reduce the price of petrol by Rs 9.5 per litre and of diesel by Rs 7 per litre," she said.

Sitharaman: Govt Devoted to Welfare of the Poor

In a series of 12 tweets, Sitharaman listed out reasons for the economic crisis facing the country and announced measures "to help our people."

Sitharaman wrote, "Even as the world is recovering from Covid-19 pandemic, the Ukraine conflict has brought in supply chain problems and shortages of various goods. This is resulting in inflation & economic distress in a lot of countries."

2/12 Today, the world is passing through difficult times. Even as the world is recovering from Covid-19 pandemic, the Ukraine conflict has brought in supply chain problems and shortages of various goods. This is resulting in inflation & economic distress in a lot of countries.

— Nirmala Sitharaman (@nsitharaman) May 21, 2022

4/n Despite the challenging international situation,we’ve ensured that there are no shortages/scarcity of essential goods. Even a few developed countries couldn’t escape some shortages/disruptions.

We are committed to ensure that prices of essential items are kept under control.

— Nirmala Sitharaman (@nsitharaman) May 21, 2022

The finance minister added, "Despite rising fertilizer prices globally, we have protected our farmers from such price hikes. In addition to the fertilizer subsidy of ₹ 1.05 lakh crore in the budget, an additional amount of ₹ 1.10 lakh crore is being provided to further cushion our farmers."

6/12 @PMOIndia has specifically asked all arms of the government to work with sensitivity and give relief to the common man.

Keeping in line with @PMOIndia @narendramodi ‘s commitment to help the poor & common man, TODAY, we are announcing more steps to help our people.

— Nirmala Sitharaman (@nsitharaman) May 21, 2022

Other Key Announcements

Here are the other key announcements made:

• A subsidy of ₹200 per gas cylinder (upto 12 cylinders) to be given to over 9 crore beneficiaries of Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana.

• Customs duty to be reduced on raw materials and intermediaries for plastic products where India's import dependence is high.

• Customs duty to be calibrated on raw materials and intermediaries for iron and steel, so as to reduce their prices. Import duty on some raw materials of steel will be reduced, and export duty on some steel products will be levied.

8/12
I wish to exhort all state governments, especially the states where reduction wasn’t done during the last round (November 2021), to also implement a similar cut and give relief to the common man.

— Nirmala Sitharaman (@nsitharaman) May 21, 2022

10/12 We are also reducing the customs duty on raw materials & intermediaries for plastic products where our import dependence is high. This will result in reduction of cost of final products. #MSME #chemicals #Plastic #Customs

— Nirmala Sitharaman (@nsitharaman) May 21, 2022

12. Measures are being taken up to improve the availability of #Cement and through better logistics to reduce the cost of cement.

Notifications with specific details on all the above will be issued by GoI within the next hour.

— Nirmala Sitharaman (@nsitharaman) May 21, 2022