27 March,2026 03:51 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. File Pic
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday said the petrol excise duty cut announced by the Central government will shield consumers from the impact of rising global crude prices amid the ongoing war in West Asia.
Welcoming the government's announcement to slash excise duty on petrol to Rs 3 a litre and exempt diesel from the duty, Fadnavis thanked the Union government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for giving this "big benefit" to consumers.
"The burden (due to the situation in West Asia) won't be passed on to consumers," he said.
Fadnavis appealed people not to queue up at petrol pumps. "We have enough fuel," he said. There is also no need for hoarding of domestic gas, he added.
The Centre has declared that there won't be any lockdown, Fadnavis said. Those spreading rumours of a nationwide lockdown will face criminal action, he added.
The government has slashed excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 10 per litre each, a move aimed at shielding domestic consumers from a surge in global oil prices triggered by the Middle East conflict, at an estimated revenue cost of Rs 1.75 lakh crore.
Alongside, the government brought back duties on export of diesel and aviation turbine fuel (ATF).
Special additional excise duty on petrol has been cut from Rs 13 a litre to Rs 3 and the same on diesel from Rs 10 per litre to nil, according to a notification issued late on Thursday.
Alongside, the government imposed an export duty of Rs 21.5 per litre on diesel and Rs 29.5 per litre on aviation turbine fuel (ATF), reinstating a levy first introduced in July 2022 to curb windfall gains by refiners following Russia's invasion of Ukraine and later withdrawn in December 2024.
However, unlike last time, there is no windfall tax that has been levied on domestic crude oil producers like ONGC.
After the reduction in excise duty, the incidence of excise duty on petrol will be Rs 11.9 per litre (Rs 1.40 basic excise duty, Rs 3 special additional excise duty, Rs 2.50 agriculture infrastructure and development cess and Rs 5 road and infrastructure cess).
On diesel the incidence will be Rs 7.80 per litre (Rs 1.80 basis excise duty, Rs 4 agriculture infrastructure and development cess and Rs 2 road and infrastructure cess).
Considering 175 billion litre of auto fuel sales annually (115 billion litres of diesel and 60 billion litres of petrol), the impact of the duty cut would be Rs 1.75 lakh crore annually.
The excise duty cut follows record losses that oil companies suffered from the surge in international oil prices. Prices of crude oil, the raw material for making petrol and diesel, have surged almost 50 per cent this month as the US and Israel attack on Iran and Tehran's sweeping retaliation disrupts global supply.
(With inputs from Agencies)
