Centre reduces excise duty on petrol by Rs 8 per litre, diesel by Rs 6

New Delhi, May 21: In a big relief, the central government on Saturday reduced excise duty on Petrol by Rs 8 per litre and on Diesel by Rs 6 per litre. The excise duty cut will translate into a reduction of Rs 9.5 a litre on petrol and Rs 7 a litre in diesel after taking into account its impact on other levies.

Petrol price in Delhi will from Sunday cost Rs 95.91 a litre as against Rs 105.41 a litre currently while diesel will cost Rs 89.67 a litre as opposed to Rs 96.67 a litre now.

"We are reducing the Central excise duty on Petrol by Rs 8 per litre and on Diesel by Rs 6 per litre. This will reduce the price of petrol by Rs 9.5 per litre and of Diesel by Rs 7 per litre," said Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

Currently, in most of the Indian cities, petrol prices are topping levels of Rs. 100 per litre and more.

"We are also reducing the customs duty on raw materials & intermediaries for plastic products where our import dependence is high. Import duty on some raw materials of steel will be reduced. Export duty on some steel products will be levied," she said.

"Also, this year, we will give a subsidy of Rs 200 per gas cylinder (upto 12 cylinders) to over 9 crore beneficiaries of Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana," the finance minister announced.

"Measures are being taken up to improve the availability of Cement and through better logistics to reduce the cost of cement," she said.

It is seen as a big relief for Indian who have been facing huge inflationary pressure.