Centre cuts windfall tax on petrol, diesel and ATF exports

The government has cut export duties on petrol, diesel and aviation turbine fuel as part of its fortnightly review. Petrol duty was lowered to Rs 0.5 per litre, diesel to Rs 20 and ATF to Rs 15

New Delhi: The government has reduced the windfall tax and export levies on petrol, diesel and aviation turbine fuel (ATF) as part of its fortnightly review of duties on petroleum products.

According to a Finance Ministry notification, the duty on petrol exports has been cut to Rs 0.5 per litre, comprising Special Additional Excise Duty (SAED) of Rs 0.5 per litre, while the Revenue Integration Charge (RIC) remains nil. For diesel, the duty has been reduced to Rs 20 per litre, comprising SAED of Rs 20 per litre, with no RIC.

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In addition, the levy on ATF exports has been lowered to Rs 15 per litre through SAED. However, there has been no change in the existing excise duty rates on petrol and diesel cleared for domestic consumption, the ministry said.

The government reviews the windfall tax on domestically produced crude oil and export duties on petroleum products every fortnight, depending on movements in global crude oil prices and refinery margins.

The latest revision follows several changes to petroleum export duties in recent months amid volatility in international oil prices and geopolitical tensions. In the previous revision effective September 1, the government had reduced the export levy on diesel to Rs 1 per litre from Rs 3 per litre and cut the windfall tax on diesel exports to Rs 19 per litre from Rs 24 per litre.

In August, the government had raised the export duty on petrol to Rs 3.5 per litre from Rs 2.5 per litre. The total duty on diesel was increased to Rs 25.5 per litre from Rs 15.5 per litre, while the ATF export levy was raised to Rs 22 per litre from Rs 14.5 per litre.