Wednesday 4 October 2017

Excise on petrol, diesel cut by Rs 2/L; Govt may suffer Rs 26,000 cr loss

This comes at a time when diesel in Delhi scaled an all-time high of Rs 59.14 per litre

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Facing public resentment over the recent spike in fuel prices, the government on Tuesday cut the excise duty on both branded and unbranded petrol and diesel by Rs 2 a litre from Wednesday. According to sources, the finance ministry was initially reluctant to reduce the duty due to revenue concerns, but relented after discussions with the petroleum ministry on implementing steps to bring down petrol prices to Rs 60-65 a litre.

While this would hit the revenues of the exchequer by Rs 13,000 crore in the second half of the current financial year at a time when the fiscal deficit has already touched 96 per cent of the Budget Estimates, consumers will get relief as the move would reduce the consumer price index (CPI)-based inflation rate by 9 basis points as a first round impact.

(The) government has reduced the basic excise duty on petrol and diesel (both branded and unbranded) by Rs 2 a litre with effect from October 4, 2017. The revenue loss on account of these reductions will be about Rs 26,000 crore in a full year and Rs 13,000 crore in the remaining part of the current financial year,” the finance ministry announced on Twitter.

This comes at a time when diesel in Delhi scaled an all-time high of Rs 59.14 a litre, while other cities, too, saw a considerable increase in prices. The petrol price in Delhi was at a two-year high of Rs 70.88 a litre on Tuesday. Currently, taxes constitute the excise duty of Rs 21.48 a litre, 30 per cent of the price of petrol, and Rs 17.33 a litre, 29 per cent, of the price of diesel.

Devendra Pant, chief economist at India Ratings, said the move would reduce the CPI inflation rate by around nine basis points, with petrol accounting for eight basis points and diesel one basis point. The CPI inflation rate rose to 3.36 per cent in August from 2.36 per cent in July.

While the revenue loss from the excise cut for the remainder of FY18 was not very large, it would exacerbate the concerns posed by other fiscal risks, such as the decline in the surplus transferred by the RBI and the possibility of shortfalls in inflows from disinvestment, etc,.... Read Full Story

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