Coronavirus pandemic: Excise duty on petrol and diesel to be hiked

- Excise duty on petrol and diesel to be increased by Rs 8 per litre

- The excise duty on fuel was recently hiked by Rs 3 per litre, the highest yet in five years

The government will raise excise duty on fuel prices including petrol and diesel by up to Rs 8 per litre in a bid to fund resources to fight the Coronavirus pandemic. Based on the amendments introduced in the Finance Bill 2020, the Finance Ministry will raise a special additional excise duty of Rs 8 on petrol and diesel each.

When the excise hike comes into effect, it could result in a price hike of Rs 5 or Rs 6 as the balance amount would be consumed by the oil companies. With the aforementioned hike, the excise duty on petrol will be rated at Rs 22.98 per litre while diesel will be rated at Rs 18.83 per litre.

The news for excise duty hike on fuel comes barely a few days after the same was raised by Rs 3 per litre, which was the highest yet in the last five years. This hike was not passed on to the consumer although it may be increased later at a minimum amount.