Government hikes excise duty on petrol, diesel
The government on Saturday hiked excise duty on petrol by ₹1/litre and on diesel by ₹1.5/litre. This makes the current excise duty on unbranded petrol and diesel at ₹9.48 and ₹11.33 respectively. The move will reportedly help the government to collect an additional ₹14,000 crore to maintain its fiscal deficit target at 3.9% of GDP in the current financial year.