Govt tables notifications on excise duty, road cess rise on

Minister of State for Finance Anurag Singh Thakur on Monday tabled two notifications relating to increase in excise duty and road cess on petrol and diesel by Rs 3 per per litre, amidst uproar by opposition in Lok Sabha.

Thakur placed before the House the notifications dated March 13, 2020 seeking to raise special additional excise duty on petrol by Rs 2 to Rs 8 per litre in case of petrol and to Rs 4 per litre litre from Rs 2 in case of diesel.

Additionally road and infrastructure cess was raised by Re 1 per litre on petrol and diesel to Rs 10.

Opposition members protested the government move. They questioned the hike in duty when global crude prices have come down significantly.

Later in the day, Thakur also tabled the notifications along with the explanatory memorandum before Rajya Sabha.

This was opposed by AITC member Sukhendu Sekhar Ray.

"The price of crude oil has come down substantially in the world market and price of diesel and petrol has been enhanced in our market along with road cess," Ray said