Fuel Prices, LPG Subsidy: Key Points From Nirmala Sitharaman's Statement

Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday made several announcements including a sharp cut in fuel prices with retail inflation surging to an eight-year high in April.

The retail inflation has been driven by rising prices of fuel and food nationwide. The Union finance minister made the announcements in a series of tweets today.

1/12 Our government, since when @PMOIndia @narendramodi took office, is
devoted to the welfare of the poor.We’ve taken a number of steps to help the poor and middle class. As a result, the average inflation during our tenure has remained lower than during previous governments.

— Nirmala Sitharaman (@nsitharaman) May 21, 2022

The key points from the announcements are:

• Central excise duty on petrol and diesel have been cut by Rs 8 and Rs 6 per litre, respectively, effectively reducing petrol prices by Rs 9.5 per litre and prices of diesel coming down by Rs 7 per litre.

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• Rs 1.10 crore fertilizer subsidy was also announced by Sitharaman today which will be in addition to the Rs 1.05 lakh crore in this year’s budget.

• Over nine crore beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana will get a subsidy of Rs 200 per gas cylinder which will be directly credited to their bank accounts, meaning effective price for a 14.3 kilograms LPG cylinder in Delhi, which costs Rs 1,003, will now cost Rs 803.

• Customs duty on raw materials and intermediaries for plastic products where India is highly dependent on imports, have been reduced.

• Sitharaman also announced that import duty on some raw materials of steel will be reduced, while export duty will be levied on some steel products.

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