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The Central government on Monday hiked the export duties levied on diesel by Rs 14 per litre and Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) by Rs 12.5 per litre, with no change in the rates of duty on petrol.
According to the official Gazette notification issued by the Department of Revenue, the rate of duty will be Rs 14 per litre on exports of diesel and Rs 12.5 per litre on exports of ATF. There is no change in the rate of duty on exports of petrol or in the existing excise duty rates on petrol and diesel cleared for domestic consumption. The revised rates will come into effect on Tuesday. Export levies, Special Additional Excise Duty (SAED) and Road and Infrastructure Cess (RIC), on the exports of petrol, diesel and aviation turbine fuel (ATF) were introduced with effect from March 27 to ensure domestic availability of petroleum products by disincentivising exports in the backdrop of the West Asia crisis. The rates are being revised on a fortnightly basis, and the last such revision was undertaken with effect from June 1. The rates are prescribed based on the average international prices of crude oil, petrol, diesel and ATF prevailing during the period since the last review. Meanwhile, the Petroleum Ministry on Monday has assured there is sufficient supply of petrol, diesel, LPG and natural gas in the country and urged citizens and industry to use energy responsibly. Joint Secretary Sujata Sharma, speaking at an Inter-Ministerial press briefing, appealed for energy conservation and asked bulk industrial and commercial consumers to purchase diesel from their consumer pumps to reduce pressure on retail outlets. The appeal comes as the government put a temporary order in place to ease congestion at retail pumps. Sharma explained that the supply of petrol, diesel and LPG remains stable and refineries are operating at optimum capacity, with crude inventories maintained. The strain stems from a shift in offtake: about 42 crore litres of diesel that earlier moved through bulk or consumer pumps shifted to retail outlets in May, creating supply issues at some locations. To protect common consumers, the government issued a budget notification on June 11, capping retail diesel sales at 200 litres per person per day. Industrial and commercial users have been directed to source from their own consumer pumps. Sharma clarified this is a temporary order for about 90 days and has been brought in to save the common consumer from inconvenience, stressing there is no shortage of petrol and diesel. (ANI)
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