The government raised the windfall tax on petroleum crude marginally to ₹17,750 per tonne from ₹17,000 per tonne, but reduced the levy on diesel exports to ₹5 per litre from ₹11 per litre.
It removed the ₹4 per litre levy on aviation turbine fuel exports. The new rates will be effective from August 3. The levy on petrol exports was removed in the July 19 revision.
This is the second revision in the windfall levy imposed on July 1. The cess is reviewed fortnightly taking into consideration the global crude prices.
International oil benchmark Brent crude traded marginally up at $102.4 per barrel at the time of press, down marginally from around $104 per barrel on July 21.
The government had initially imposed a ₹23,250 per tonne cess on domestically produced crude oil. It was reduced to ₹17,000 per tonne on July 20 following softening in the global crude oil. The ₹6 per litre tax on petrol exports was scrapped while that on diesel and aviation fuel was reduced by ₹2 a litre each to ₹11 and ₹4, respectively.
The new rates will be applicable from Wednesday, according to a notification issued by the finance ministry late Tuesday evening.
The government has maintained that the levy was introduced in view of the windfall gains made by the domestic crude producers and refiners due to high global crude and product prices. The government had said it will review the windfall levy on locally produced crude oil every fortnight.
The levy was expected to compensate for the reduction in the excise duty on petrol and diesel to provide relief to consumers. But the reduction in the windfall cess from the initial levels is expected to reduce the realisation for the government.
