NEW DELHI, MAY 21
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday made a big announcement on reducing excise duty on fuel, which will lead to a welcome drop in prices of petrol and diesel. In her tweets the FM said “We are reducing the central excise duty on petrol by Rs 8 per litre and on diesel by Rs 6 per litre. This will reduce the price of petrol by Rs 9.5 per litre and of diesel by Rs 7 per litre.”
1/12 Our government, since when @PMOIndia @narendramodi took office, is
devoted to the welfare of the poor.We’ve taken a number of steps to help the poor and middle class. As a result, the average inflation during our tenure has remained lower than during previous governments.— Nirmala Sitharaman (Modi Ka Parivar) (@nsitharaman) May 21, 2022
The finance minister said this will have a revenue implication of close to Rs 1 lakh crore per year for the central government. But, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government has been dedicated towards the welfare of the poor since it assumed office, she added.
Increase in fuel prices were necessitated due to surge in international crude prices. Also, under the Ujjwala Yojana scheme, the central government will give a subsidy of Rs 200 per cylinder for 12 cylinders a year. This is being done to ease some of the burden arising from record rise in rates of cooking gas.
Sitharaman made the announcements taking into account disruptions in supply chains caused by the Ukraine conflict as well as the world’s recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic. She said both these events had led to inflation and economic distress in numerous countries. Hence, she added, keeping in view the “challenging international situation” the Centre was committed to keep the prices of essential items under control.
“We’ve taken a number of steps to help the poor and the middle class. As a result, the average inflation during our tenure has remained lower than during previous governments,” Sitharaman added.
