Government working on excise cut as fuel prices hit new peak
A cut in oil prices looked imminent on Tuesday with the government busy crunching numbers for reducing the excise duty on motor fuels and looking at alternatives to soften the blow from bubbling crude as petrol and diesel prices notched up fresh records at Rs 76.87 and Rs 68.08 a litre, respectively, in Delhi — the reference market — on Tuesday.
An indication of the government’s desire to scale down the relentless rise in pump prices came from none other than BJP president Amit Shah when he said it was a matter of concern in the highest echelons of the government and will be addressed in a few days.
“As far as (rising) petrol prices are concerned, the government is taking it very seriously. Tomorrow (Wednesday) the oil minister will be holding a meeting with all the oil companies. The government is looking into the reasons for the rising prices and will certainly come out with a formula to deal with it or resolve the matter in 2-4 days. The oil minister has also informed the people about this today” Shah told reporters.
At the time, both Pradhan and finance minister Arun Jaitley had told Parliament that the Centre was keeping part of the relief to fund infrastructure projects and welfare schemes for the poor. An excise duty reduction at this point could squeeze the Centre’s spending ability as every Re 1 cut results in a revenue loss of Rs 13,000 crore annually.