The Centre on Monday announced an increase in excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 2 per litre each, PTI reported. The changes will come into effect from Tuesday. The excise duty on petrol was increased to Rs 13 per litre and that on diesel to Rs 10, the order said.
As of April 7, 2025, the Indian government has implemented several measures affecting petrol and diesel pricing:
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Excise Duty Increase: The government has raised the excise duty on petrol and diesel. However, Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri stated that this increase will not be passed on to consumers and will be absorbed by oil marketing companies.
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Export Tax Hike: An additional export tax of 2 rupees per litre has been imposed on petrol and diesel. This measure aims to adapt to the significant decline in global oil prices.
These steps are part of the government’s strategy to balance domestic fuel prices with international market fluctuations.Reuters
The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas said after the hike that any change in taxes will not change the retail selling price of petrol and diesel as the increase will be set off against the reduction in retail prices that was warranted from fall in international oil prices. “PSU Oil Marketing Companies have informed that there will be no increase in retail prices of Petrol and Diesel, subsequent to the increase effected in Excise Duty Rates today,” the oil ministry said in a post on X.
Explaining how the excise duty hike won’t impact the consumers, Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri said, “Let me clarify upfront on the record, this will not be passed on to the consumer…The international price of crude came down to around $60 a barrel, but please remember that our oil marketing companies carry inventories over a 45-day period. If you go back to January, the crude price then was $83, which came down subsequently to $75. So the crude inventory that they’re carrying is at $75 on average per barrel…You can legitimately expect prices of petrol and diesel to be moderated by the oil marketing companies in keeping with the global price. In a deregulated sector, you can expect them to accordingly adjust the market retail price.”
