Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday made several announcements, including a reduction in the Central excise duty on petrol by Rs 8 per litre and on diesel by Rs 6 per litre.
1. Sitharaman said the Centre is reducing the Central excise duty on petrol by Rs 8 per litre and on diesel by Rs 6 per litre. With this, the price of petrol will go down by Rs 9.5 per litre and of diesel by Rs 7 per litre, she added.
It will have a revenue implication of around Rs 1 lakh crore/year for the government, said Sitharaman.
She also exhorted all state governments, especially the states where the reduction wasn’t done during the last round (November 2021), to also implement a similar cut and give relief to the common man.
2. The Union Finance Minister said the Centre will this year give a subsidy of Rs 200 per gas cylinder (up to 12 cylinders) to over nine crore beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY).
This is being done to help ease some of the burden arising from cooking gas rates rising to record levels.
This will help our mothers and sisters and will have a revenue implication of around Rs 6100 crore a year, said Sitharaman.
3. Sitharaman said the government is also reducing the customs duty on raw materials and intermediaries for plastic products where the country's import dependence is high. This will result in a reduction of cost of final products, she added.
Similarly, she said the Centre is calibrating customs duty on raw materials and intermediaries for iron and steel to reduce their prices. "Import duty on some raw materials of steel will be reduced. Export duty on some steel products will be levied," she further said.
4. The Union Finance Minister said that measures are being taken up to improve the availability of cement and through better logistics to reduce the cost of cement.
5. In addition to the fertilizer subsidy of Rs 1.05 lakh crore in the budget, she said an additional amount of Rs 1.10 lakh crore is being provided to further cushion our farmers.
