Petrol, diesel to get cheaper as Centre slashes excise duty on fuel

New Delhi, Nov 3: On eve of the Diwali festival, the Government of India announced a reduction in excise duty on petrol and diesel.

The excise duty on petrol and diesel have been slashed by Rs 5 and Rs 10, respectively. It will come into effect from Thursday.

"The reduction in excise duty on diesel will be double that of petrol and will come as a boost to the farmers during the upcoming Rabi season. States urged to reduce VAT on petrol & diesel to give relief to consumers," sources from the government told news agency ANI.

To give a further fillip to the economy, Govt of India decided to significantly reduce excise duty on diesel and petrol, Ministry of Finance said, adding the reduction will also boost consumption and keep inflation low, thus helping the poor and middle classes.

The development comes as a big relief to the consumers as the fuel rates have touched new highs in many parts of the country.

Union Minister for Housing & Urban Affairs & Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for excise duty reduction and urged the state governments to slash the VAT on fuel to ease the burden on consumers, further.

He tweeted, "I thank PM @narendramodi Ji for the significant reduction in Excise Duty on Petrol & Diesel. A big relief for fuel consumers, particularly our farmers just ahead of Rabi season. The states should add to this celebration by reducing VAT on fuel to give further relief to consumers.

Petrol/Diesel Rates in Metros Today
On Wednesday, petrol and diesel are retailed at Rs 110.04 and Rs 98.42 per litre, respectively, in New Delhi. In the commercial capital Mumbai, petrol is sold at Rs 115.85 per litre, while diesel costs Rs 106.63 per litre.

People in Chennai are shelling out Rs 106.66 for a litre of petrol, while diesel is retailed at Rs 102.59 a litre. Whereas in Kolkata, a litre of petrol and diesel costs Rs 110.49 and 101.56, respectively.

In most cities in the country, the rates of petrol and diesel per litre are above Rs 100.
Prices differ from state to state depending on the incidence of local taxes.

On daily basis, the oil marketing companies revise the price of fuels and the new prices will come into effect at 6 am every day. Four factors influence the rise of fuel price crude - oil, freight and processing charges, excise duty and VAT.

Shedding the modest price change policy, state-owned fuel retailers have since October 6 started passing on the larger incidence of cost to consumers. This is because the international benchmark Brent crude is trading at USD 82.31 per barrel. A month back, Brent was trading at USD 73.51.