New Delhi: State-run Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) will not increase the prices of petrol and diesel even as the government has announced an increase in the excise duty levied on the two, said the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural gas on Monday. The Ministry of Finance has increased the excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 2 each, an official circular that came out on Monday said. The hike will come into effect on April 8. The decision comes at a time when global oil prices have been volatile.
The excise duty on petrol has been increased to Rs 13 per litre and that on diesel to Rs 10, the order said.
“PSU Oil Marketing Companies have informed that there will be no increase in retail prices of #Petrol and #Diesel, subsequent to the increase effected in Excise Duty Rates today,” said the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas in a post on X.
At a press briefing on Monday, Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri said that OMCs are in the pink and will not increase the prices of petrol and diesel.
The order issued by the Ministry of Finance stated that the increased duty had been imposed by the Central government in public interest, under section 5A of the Central Excise Act, 1944 and section 147 of the Finance Act, 2002.