Centre also announced to give a subsidy of ₹200 per gas cylinder to over nine crore beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana.
New Delhi: In a major relief to people of the country who have been reeling severely due to spiralling price rise, Centre on Saturday decided to cut excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs eight and Rs six respectively. With the government’s decision, prices of petrol and diesel will reduce by Rs 9.5 and Rs 7 per litre.
Union Minister for Finance, Nirmala Sitharaman, while announcing the decision, said that people will be benefited from this. She said that the move will cause revenue loss to a tune of Rs one lakh crore every year to the government exchequer. She also urged the state governments to announce a similar cut.
After the Finance Minister’s announcement, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted, “It is always people first for us! Today’s decisions, especially the one relating to a significant drop in petrol and diesel prices will positively impact various sectors, provide relief to our citizens and further ‘Ease of Living.’”
In a series of tweets, Sitaraman said that the government, since when Narendra Modi 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. Today, the world is passing through difficult times. Even as the world is recovering from Covid-19 pandemic, the Ukraine conflict has brought in supply chain problems and shortages of various goods. This is resulting in inflation & economic distress in a lot of countries.”
She also said, “Even during the pandemic, our government set a paradigm of welfare, especially with PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana. This is now acknowledged and appreciated the world over. Despite the challenging international situation,we’ve ensured that there are no shortages/scarcity of essential goods. Even a few developed countries couldn’t escape some shortages/disruptions. We are committed to ensure that prices of essential items are kept under control.”
The Finance Minister added, “Despite rising fertilizer prices globally, we have protected our farmers from such price hikes. In addition to the fertilizer subsidy of ₹ 1.05 lakh crore in the budget, an additional amount of ₹ 1.10 lakh crore is being provided to further cushion our farmers. The PMO has specifically asked all arms of the government to work with sensitivity and give relief to the common man. Keeping in line with Narendra Modi‘s commitment to help the poor & common man, today, we are announcing more steps to help our people.”
She further 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. It will have revenue implication of around Rs 1 lakh crore/year for the government. I wish to exhort all state governments, especially the states where reduction wasn’t done during the last round (November 2021), to also implement a similar cut and give relief to the common man.”
The Finance Minister also announced a subsidy of Rs 200 per cylinder to the nine crore beneficiary of Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana. The centre will give a subsidy up to 12 cylinders. Sitaraman said that the decision will help mothers and sisters. “Also, this year, we will give a subsidy of Rs 200 per gas cylinder (upto 12 cylinders) to over 9 crore beneficiaries of Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana. This will help our mothers and sisters. This will have a revenue implication of around Rs 6100 crore a year.” She announced the decision in another tweet.
She further announced, “We are also reducing the customs duty on raw materials and intermediaries for plastic products where our import dependence is high. This will result in reduction of cost of final products.”
“Similarly we are calibrating customs duty on raw materials & intermediaries for iron & steel to reduce their prices. Import duty on some raw materials of steel will be reduced. Export duty on some steel products will be levied. Measures are being taken up to improve the availability of #Cement and through better logistics to reduce the cost of cement. Notifications with specific details on all the above will be issued by the Government of India,” the FM added in her concluding tweet.
