BackRBI call for fuel tax cut: government says watching price situation
Excise duty, mostly from petrol and diesel, has helped the central government bridge a major gap in its revenues in FY21, while GST revenue receipts moderated from year-ago period
PremiumNEW DELHI: The government is monitoring fuel prices in the country while having taken several steps to control inflation, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman told the Parliament on Tuesday.
The minister, in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha, acknowledged that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) monetary policy committee had in June pointed out that the rising trajectory of international commodity prices, especially of crude, together with logistics costs, pose upside risks to the inflation outlook.
“Excise duties, cess and taxes imposed by the Centre and states need to be adjusted in a coordinated manner to contain input cost pressures emanating from petrol and diesel prices," the reply quoted RBI as saying.
“The price situation is constantly monitored by the government and appropriate measures are taken to maintain price stability," the minister said.
Sitharaman explained that the government has taken several steps to control inflation. These include supply improvement measures such as lowering of import duties on edible oils, liberalising import policy for pulses and edible oils, signing deals for import of pulses with supplier countries, imposing stock limits for pulses and utilisation of pulses stocks for cooling down prices, she said.
The RBI had noted that the second wave of Covid-19 has altered near-term inflation outlook, necessitating urgent policy interventions, active monitoring and timely measures to prevent emergence of supply chain bottlenecks and build-up of retail margins.
Excise duty, mostly from petrol and diesel, has helped the central government bridge a major gap in its revenues in FY21, while Goods and Services Tax (GST) revenue receipts moderated from the year ago period, Mint reported on 23 June citing official data.
Revenue receipts to the Centre from excise duty, collected mostly from petrol and diesel, jumped almost 63% year-on-year to Rs. 3.89 trillion in FY21.
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