Alter the price of petrol to come down by ₹ 9.5, while the diesel will be cheaper by ₹ 7 as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a sharp cut in central excise duty on fuel prices amidst surging inflation worldwide.
The central excise duty on petrol has been cut by ₹ 8 per litre and the same on diesel has been cut by ₹ 6 per litre, said Ms Sitharaman. The government says it will lose ₹ 1 lakh crore by taking the cut on central excise duties.
The Minister exhorted states to implement a similar cut and pass on the benefit to the common man.
“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,” appealed Sitharaman.
Also, the government will give ₹ 200 per cylinder subsidy to Ujjwala Yojana beneficiaries for 12 cylinders in a year to help ease some of the burden arising from cooking gas rates rising to record levels.
“This will help our mothers and sisters,” Sitharaman tweeted.
The Finance Minister said the gas cylinder subsidy will have a “revenue implication of around ₹ 6,100 crore.”
Defending the government amid steep price rise, the Minister said steps have been taken to cushion the poor.
“We’ve taken a number of steps to help the poor and middle class. As a result, the average inflation during our tenure has remained lower than during previous governments,” she said.
Soon after the cuts were announced, Prime Minister Narendra Modi underlined that it is “always people first for us” and that the it will further the “ease of living”.
