International Business: India trims tax on fuel, essential commodities – Gulf Digital News

International Business: India trims tax on fuel, essential commodities – Gulf Digital News

NEW DELHI: India yesterday announced a series of changes to the tax structure levied on crucial commodities in a bid to insulate consumers from rising prices amid high inflation.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a cut in excise duty on petrol by 8 rupees ($0.1028) per litre, and 6 rupees per litre on diesel.

The new tax regime on petrol and diesel could result in a loss of about 1 trillion Indian rupees to the government in annual revenue due to the lower collection, she said in a series of tweets.

The government also removed the import duty on anthracite, PCI coal and coking coal in a bid to reduce raw material costs for local market demand.

The latest measures will be effective from today, the government said in a notification after the announcement by Sitharaman, who also urged state governments to follow suit with similar reductions on fuel prices keeping in line with federal plans.

A litre of petrol currently costs 105.41 rupees, while diesel is at 96.67 rupees in New Delhi.

The government will also provide a fresh subsidy of 200 rupees per cooking gas cylinder to over 90 million beneficiaries under a welfare scheme introduced for women below the poverty line.

The subsidy will