Responding to the Opposition’s censure prompted by the slash in the excise duty on fuel, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman took to Twitter on Sunday, 22 May, and said that ‘the entire burden of the two duty cuts is borne by the Centre.’
The Union government on Saturday, reduced the excise duty on petrol by Rs 8 per liter and diesel by Rs 6 per litre. Prior to this, the Center had announced cuts in November 2021.
“Basic Excise Duty (BED), Special Additional Excise duty (SAED), Road & Infrastructure Cess (RIC) and Agriculture & Infrastructure Development Cess (AIDC) together constitute Excise Duty on petrol and diesel. Basic ED is sharable with states. SAED, RIC & AIDC are non-sharable,” the Finance minister wrote in a tweet.
Elaborating on the total cost borne by the Centre, she added:
In a retort directed at the Opposition, the Union minister also stressed that the comparative data shows that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has spent more on developmental expenditure and subsidies, than the Congress-led UPA administration .
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