The government has slapped a Rs 6 per litre tax on exports of petrol and ATF and Rs 13 per litre on exports of diesel
The GST revenue in June rose to Rs 1.44 trillion, registering a 56% increase over the same month last year, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said
New Delhi, NFAPost: The government has slapped an export tax on petrol, diesel and jet fuel (ATF) shipped overseas by firms like Reliance Industries Ltd, and imposed a windfall tax on crude oil produced locally by companies such as ONGC and Vedanta Ltd.
The government imposed a Rs 6 per litre tax on export of petrol and ATF and Rs 13 per litre tax on export of diesel, finance ministry notifications showed.
Additionally, it levied a Rs 23,250 per tonne additional tax on crude oil produced domestically.
The levy on crude, which follows record earnings by state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Oil India Ltd (OIL) and private sector Cairn Oil & Gas of Vedanta Ltd, alone will fetch the government Rs 67,425 crore annually on 29 million tonnes of crude oil produced domestically.
The export tax follows oil refiners particularly Reliance Industries and Rosneft-backed Nayara Energy making a killing in exporting fuel to deficit regions such as Europe and the US in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The refiners are said to have processed Russian crude oil available at discount after it was shunned by the west, and exported fuel produced from it to Europe and the US.
The restriction on export is also aimed at shoring up domestic supplies at petrol pumps, some of which had dried up in states like Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Gujarat as private refiners preferred exporting fuel than selling locally.
Exports were preferred as retail petrol and diesel prices by dominant PSU retailers have been capped at rates way lower than cost.
This meant that private retailers, who control less than 10 per cent of the market share, either sell fuel at loss or lose market share if they were to sell at higher cost.
Govt raises import duty on gold to 15% from 10.75% to curtail CAD
India has raised its basic import duty on gold to 15% from 10.75%, the government said in a notification on Friday, as the world’s second-biggest consumer of the precious metal tries to dampen its demand.
India fulfills most of its gold demand through imports, which were putting pressure on the rupee which hit a record low earlier this week.
A recent report said, the central government has become vigilant as the trade deficit in May hit a record high of $24.3 billion. The Centre is closely scrutinising imports, especially gold, amid concerns over rising in the current account deficit (CAD). The imports of gold in May rose by almost nine times to $7.7 billion compared to a year ago.
Last year, the government had cut the tax to 7.5% in the Union Budget. Gold also attracts 3% Goods and Services Tax (GST) in India.
On the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX), gold rates on Friday surged nearly 3 per cent to Rs 51,900 per 10 gram. However, gold prices were lower today in global markets.
This hike in import duty comes as a report by the World Gold Council (WGC) said that India is the fourth-largest nation in terms of gold recycling country in 2021 as it recycled 75 tons, or 6.5 per cent of the total gold recycled across the globe.
GST collections up 56% to Rs 1.44 trillion in June
The Goods and Services Tax (GST) revenue in June rose to Rs 1.44 trillion, registering a 56 per cent increase over the same month last year, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Friday.
Sitharaman said Rs 1.4 trillion is the “rough bottom line” now for GST collections. GST revenue for May stood at nearly Rs 1.41 lakh crore.
