Rs 2/litre additional excise duty on petrol put off by one month; diesel by 6 months

New Delhi, October 1

The government has put off by one month the levy of an additional Rs 2 per litre excise duty on petrol that is not doped with ethanol and by six months for diesel not blended with bio-diesel in a bid to give the industry more time to implement the measure.

The finance ministry, in a gazette notification issued late on Friday (September 30), stated that the additional excise tax on petrol would now be levied from November 1, and that on diesel from April 2023.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had in her Budget for the fiscal year beginning April 2022 brought a Rs 2 per litre additional levy on petrol and diesel that is not blended with ethanol and bio-diesel, respectively. This duty was to be applicable from October 1, but now has been deferred to November 1 for petrol and April 1, 2023 for diesel.

At present, 10 per cent ethanol, extracted from sugarcane or surplus foodgrain, is blended or mixed in petrol (meaning 10 per cent of ethanol mixed with 90 per cent of petrol) with a view to cutting oil import dependence and providing farmers with an additional source of income.

But there is only an experimental blending of bio-diesel, extracted from non-edible oilseeds, in diesel — the most used fuel in the country.