Budget 2021: Agri cess of Rs 2.5 per litre on petrol, Rs 4 on diesel

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced agriculture infrastructure and development cess (AIDC) of Rs 2.5 per litre on petrol and Rs 4 per litre on diesel to improve agricultural infrastructure in the country. "An Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Cess (AIDC) of Rs 2.5 per litre has been imposed on petrol and Rs 4 per litre on diesel. Overall there would be no additional burden on the consumer," she said. This means the Centre may get higher share in revenue from fuel taxes.

Sitharaman said there's an immediate need to improve agricultural infrastructure to produce more, while conserving and processing agricultural output efficiently. This will raise income for farmers. She, however, said there will be no additional burden on consumers due to cess on fuel as the Centre has reduced the basic customs duty.

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"I propose an Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Cess (AIDC) on a small number of items. However, while applying this cess, we have taken care not to put additional burden on consumers on most items," Sitharaman said.

Also, the Centre has imposed basic excise duty of Rs 1, and Rs 1.8 per litre, respectively, on unbranded petrol and diesel. "The special additional excise duty on unbranded petrol and diesel will be Rs 11 and Rs 8 per litre, respectively. Similar changes have also been made for branded petrol and diesel," she said.

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The cess on fuel comes at a time when petrol and diesel prices in India are at an all-time high. As of today, petrol remains Rs 86 per litre in Delhi, while it's Rs 93 per litre in financial capital Mumbai. The diesel price in Delhi stands at Rs 76 a litre, while its Rs 83 per litre in Mumbai.

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