Petrol prices up as govt hikes excise duty

Petrol 37p, Diesel Rs 2/L dearer

New Delhi : The Union Government on Saturday hiked excise duty on petrol by Rs 0.37 per litre and by Rs 2 a litre on diesel, the second increase in duties in just over two weeks, to mop up a little less than Rs 4,400 crore.

However, there will be no increase in retail selling price of petrol and diesel as state-owned oil firms had not passed on the full benefit of a reduction in international oil prices to consumers on January 1.

Basic excise duty on unbranded or normal petrol has been increased from Rs 7.36 per litre to Rs 7.73 and the same on unbranded diesel from Rs 5.83 to Rs 7.83 per litre, a notification of the Central Board of Excise and Customs ( CBEC) said.

The increase in excise duty will fetch the government over Rs 4,300 crore on diesel and about Rs 80 crore on petrol.

This is the second time in less than three weeks that excise duty is being hiked to make use of the slump in oil prices to garner resources for the government without burdening consumers.