Govt imposes windfall tax on petrol exports, cuts levy on diesel, ATF

The government on Friday imposed a windfall gains tax of Rs 3/litre on the export of petrol, while reducing the levy on diesel to Rs 16.5/litre and aviation turbine fuel to Rs 16/litre effective May 16. The Finance Ministry, in a notification, said that the road and infrastructure cess will be nil on exports of petrol and diesel. Also, there is no change in the existing duty rates on petrol and diesel cleared for domestic consumption.
According to finance ministry notifications, the special additional excise duty (SAED) on petrol exports has been imposed at Rs 3 per litre for the first time since the start of the West Asia crisis. At the same time, the levy on diesel exports has been reduced to Rs 16.5 per litre from Rs 23 per litre, while the export duty on ATF has been cut to Rs 16 per litre from Rs 33 per litre. The ministry also said road and infrastructure cess on exports of petrol and diesel will remain nil.
There is no change in duty rates for petrol and diesel sold in the domestic market. The government had first imposed export duties on diesel and ATF on March 26 at Rs 21.5 per litre and Rs 29.5 per litre, respectively. The levies were subsequently increased sharply on April 11 before being partially reduced during the April 30 review.