Cut in excise duty likely to halt fuel price hike

New Delhi : With continuous rise in global oil price hike, fuel in India has crossed its peak heights. It is likely that government will slash excise duty to halt continuous rise in fuel prices.

Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg said that the government is keeping an eye on the situation developing from oil prices hitting USD 80 a barrel -- the highest since November 2014, and adequate steps will be taken, he told reporters without elaborating.

Narendra Modi's government has hiked excise duty for nothing less than nine times ever since they have come in power. However, the tax cut has been done only once by Rs 2 per litre.

Petrol prices have risen by about a rupee per litre since Monday when state-owned fuel retailers resumed daily revision in retail prices after a 19-day pre-Karnataka poll hiatus. Diesel prices have gone up by Rs 1.15 a litre during this period.

Global oil price change puts extra pressure on India as it imports 80 per cent of the fuel to fulfill its needs. India's net oil import bill in 2017-18 was USD 70 billion.