India to impose tax on export of petrol and diesel

India will tax the export of petrol, diesel and jet fuel from Friday, the finance ministry said in a release.

While a tax of Rs 6 per litre will be levied on the export of petrol and jet fuel, Rs 13 per litre will be charged on the export of diesel.

“While crude prices have increased sharply in recent months, the prices of HSD [high speed diesel] and petrol have shown a sharper increase,” the finance ministry said. “The refiners export these products at globally prevailing prices, which are very high. As exports are becoming highly remunerative, it has been seen that certain refiners are drying out their pumps in the domestic market.”

The finance ministry also said the move will not impact the prices of diesel and petrol in domestic markets.

The ministry further said that a windfall tax will be charged locally produced crude oil.

A windfall tax is a one-time fee imposed on a company whose profits have surged extraordinarily due to favourable market conditions, according to PTI.

“The domestic crude producers sell crude to domestic refineries at international parity prices,” the finance ministry said. “As a result, the domestic crude producers are making windfall gains. Taking this into account, a cess of Rs 23,250 per tonne has been imposed on crude. Import of crude would not be subject to this cess.”

Customs duty on gold increased

The customs duty on gold has been increased from 10.75% to 15%, the finance ministry said.

The decision was taken amid sudden surge in the import of gold, the government said.

“In the month of May, a total of 107 tonnes of gold was imported and in June also the imports have been significant,” the finance ministry said. “The surge in gold imports is putting pressure on the current account deficit.”

As per foreign trade data, India’s gold imports have increased by 789% in May 2022 to cross Rs 47,399 crore, compared to Rs 5,349 crore in the same month last year, The Hindu reported.