Excise duty on petrol, diesel more than doubles under NDA rule

Excise duty on petrol and diesel has more than doubled since BJP-led NDA came to power in May last year, Parliament was informed on Wednesday.

In a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said excise duty on petrol was Rs 9.48 per litre in April, 2014, which after five rounds of hikes has risen to Rs 19.06.

Similarly, the excise duty on diesel was Rs 3.65 per litre in April, 2014 which after five rounds of excise duty hikes has risen to Rs 10.66.

A litre of petrol in Delhi costs Rs 60.48, nearly a third of which is made up of excise duty. Another Rs 12.10 is on account of local sales tax or VAT.

The cost of producing petrol is just Rs 23.77 per litre but after adding company margin, petrol pump dealers commission and taxes, it sells for Rs 60.48.

On diesel, Rs 6.88 is added on account of VAT as the cost of production is only Rs 24.67 per litre.

Pradhan said excise duty on petrol was hiked by Rs 1.54 per litre on November 12 last year and then by Rs 2.32 on December 3, 2014. It was further raised by Rs 1.94 per litre on January 1, Rs 2.04 on January 17 and Rs 2.40 on November 7 this year.

In case of diesel, the excise duty was hiked from Rs 3.56 per litre to Rs 5.11 on November 12 last year and then to Rs 6.14 on December 3, 2014. This year, it was further raised by Rs 2.06 each on January 2 and January 17 and by Rs 0.40 on November 7, he said.

To a separate question, Pradhan said petrol pump dealers are paid a commission of Rs 2.26 on sale of every litre of petrol and Rs 1.43 on diesel.