Excise Duty

GST's tax relabelling has blurred revenue trends, altered Centre-state fund sharing and raised fresh questions about transparency and fiscal federalism

Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini on Saturday launched an upgraded QR code-based 'Track and Trace' system for liquor and eight online excise services aimed at improving transparency, strengthening regulatory oversight and boosting state revenue through digital governance. The chief minister launched the initiatives while reviewing the Excise and Taxation Department's Haryana Vision-2047 roadmap, the implementation of chief ministerial announcements and departmental commitments. Under the upgraded 'Track and Trace' system, every liquor bottle will be assigned a unique QR code, enabling authorities to monitor its movement from distilleries and bottling plants to wholesale distributors and retail outlets. The government said the system would help curb the circulation of illicit liquor, improve compliance with excise laws, check tax evasion and smuggling, and facilitate real-time monitoring of the supply chain. Saini also launched eight online excise services, including the onli

The Ministry of Finance exempted petrol containing 22 per cent, 25 per cent, 27 per cent and 30 per cent ethanol from central excise duty. The move covers E22, E25, E27 and E30 fuel variants.

The government has extended excise-duty exemption to petrol blended with 22-30 per cent ethanol but said adoption of higher blends will follow extensive testing and stakeholder consultations

The government has granted excise duty exemption on petrol containing 22-30 per cent ethanol, supporting cleaner fuel adoption and the next phase of India's ethanol blending programme

The Delhi High Court dismissed Pernod Ricard's challenge to the denial of an L-1 wholesale liquor licence, citing pending criminal proceedings under excise rules

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday listed for hearing on May 25 the CBI's petition against the trial court order discharging all accused persons in the liquor policy case and asked the agency to inform former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, his deputy Manish Sisodia and former MLA Durgesh Pathak about the change of bench. "Let them be intimated that the case has been allocated to this court. So if they have to say anything or respond to the present petition. Let them be served. Once everybody is here, we will draw a schedule of hearing," Justice Manoj Jain said. The CBI's petition assailing the trial court's decision was listed before Justice Jain after Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma released it from her court last week. On February 27, the trial court discharged Kejriwal, Sisodia and 21 others in the liquor policy case, as it ruled that the case was wholly unable to survive judicial scrutiny and stood discredited in its entirety. Subsequently, Kejriwal, Sisodia, Pathak and some .

Industry body proposes gradual rollback of petrol and diesel duty cuts alongside measures to support MSMEs, energy conservation and supply-chain resilience

DFS secretary says high-level banking panel to oversee balance sheet constraints

Government panel recommends removing excise duty on CNG and bringing natural gas under GST with full input tax credit to accelerate adoption amid energy supply concerns

Prolonged fuel duty cuts could derail FY27 excise projections, with petroleum taxes - a key revenue pillar - facing a potential ₹1.32 trillion hit

Move to cost exchequer ₹1.3 trn in FY27; export duty reimposed

CBIC Chairman Vivek Chaturvedi on Friday said the government will review the special additional excise duty or windfall tax on diesel and ATF every fortnight. The move to levy special additional excise duty (SAED) is to ensure domestic availability of diesel and ATF, Chaturvedi said, while briefing the media. The revenue gain from SAED is estimated at Rs 1,500 crore in the first fortnight, he added. The government on Thursday imposed an export duty of Rs 21.5 per litre on diesel and Rs 29.5 per litre on aviation turbine fuel (ATF) to discourage exports and improve domestic supply. The SAED is a levy first introduced in July 2022 to curb windfall gains by refiners following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. It was withdrawn in December 2024. Besides, the government has slashed excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 10 per litre each, a move aimed at shielding domestic consumers from a surge in global oil prices triggered by the Middle East conflict. Revenue loss due to the excise duty

The government has reduced excise duty by ₹10 per litre on both petrol and diesel amid rising global oil risks linked to West Asia tensions. This brings excise on petrol down to roughly ₹3 per litre,

₹10 per litre excise duty cut on petrol and diesel may cost ₹1.5 trn in FY27 but help sustain consumption amid the West Asia crisis, even as economists flag risks to fiscal space

Deven Choksey believes the excise cut may bring some respite to OMCs amid high energy prices, while create a ₹1.5 trillion dent to the exchequer per year.

The government has reduced the excise duties on petrol and diesel by ₹10 per litre each, bringing them down to ₹3 per litre of petrol and zero per litre of diesel

The Delhi government is likely to extend the excise regime extant for the Financial Year 2026-27, as it is still working on a new policy, official sources said on Friday. In June last year, the Delhi government extended the duty-based excise policy, which has been in effect from the licensing year 2022-23, for the 2025-26 fiscal. It was extended from July 1, 2025, to March 31, 2026. "Now, a proposal has been sent by the excise department for further extension of the existing policy for yet another extension, to the government," a government source said. The extension may come about after approval from the government. The existing policy has been continuing since 2023-24, when a reformative policy (2021-22) allowing private players in retail liquor sale was scrapped by the then AAP government in July 2022 amid allegations of irregularities. The existing policy, also referred to as the old excise regime, was then implemented in September 2022. Chief Minister Rekha Gupta last year

Crisil expects India's cigarette volumes to fall 6-8% next fiscal as higher excise duty and GST from February squeeze demand, especially in the mass segment

An optimal state policy must go beyond a revenue-hungry, punitive regulatory regime