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India’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday announced a cut in taxes on petrol and diesel to fight inflation and control prices of basic commodities.
In a series of tweets, she said the gasoline consumption tax had been reduced by eight rupees ($0.1028) per liter and diesel by six rupees per liter.
It said its annual revenue is expected to be around INR 1 trillion and urged state governments to follow suit by making similar cuts in line with the federal government’s plan.
Currently, the price of a liter of gasoline is 105.41 rupees, while the price of diesel is 96.67 rupees in New Delhi.
Sitharaman said, “Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked all organs of the government to work towards relieving the burdens on the ordinary citizen.”
The government will also provide a subsidy of Rs 200 per cylinder of cooking gas to more than 90 million beneficiaries under the Social Welfare Scheme for Women Below the Poverty Line.
Sitharaman added that the government will also reduce import duties on raw materials for plastic and iron and steel products in the hope of lowering the cost of finished products.
