Within hours of the Union Budget raising duties on auto fuels, petrol prices went up by Rs 2.50 a litre and diesel by Rs 2.30 a litre.

What the Budget changed

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman increased the special additional excise duty and the road and infrastructure cess on petrol and diesel by Rs 2 a litre each, a move expected to bring in more than Rs 28,000 crore. In her speech she said the easing of crude oil prices from their highs gave her room to revisit the duty and cess on the two fuels.

She also imposed a customs duty of Re 1 per tonne on imported crude oil. India buys more than 220 million tonnes of crude from abroad, and the levy is expected to yield Rs 22 crore. Until now, crude imports have attracted no customs duty, only a national calamity contingent duty of Rs 50 per tonne.

Prices before the increase

• Petrol on Friday: Delhi Rs 70.51 a litre; Mumbai Rs 76.15
• Diesel on Friday: Delhi Rs 64.33 a litre; Mumbai Rs 67.40

Existing tax on petrol

Before the Budget, petrol carried total excise of Rs 17.98 a litre. This was made up of Rs 2.98 in basic excise duty, Rs 7 in special additional excise duty and Rs 8 in road and infrastructure cess.

See also: Election news

Originally published on 6 July 2019. Rewritten on 9 October 2026.

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