The price of petrol will come down by Rs 9.5, while the diesel will be cheaper by Rs 7 as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a sharp cut in central excise duty on fuel prices amid surging inflation.
The central excise duty on petrol has been cut by Rs 8 per litre and the same on diesel has been cut by Rs 6 per litre, said Ms Sitharaman. The government says it will lose Rs 1 lakh crore by taking the cut on central excise duties.
Also, the government will give Rs 200 per cylinder subsidy to Ujjwala Yojana beneficiaries for 12 cylinders in a year to help ease some of the burden arising from cooking gas rates rising to record levels.
“This will help our mothers and sisters,” tweeted Ms Sitharaman.
The Finance Minister said the gas cylinder subsidy will have a “revenue implication of around Rs 6,100 crore.”
April saw India’s wholesale and consumer prices accelerate at their fastest in years, prompting the central bank to hike interest rates at an unscheduled policy meeting this month.