The government collects a cess on petrol and high speed diesel (HSD) oil in a dedicated fund called Central Road Fund (CRF). Till fiscal 2006, only Rs 1.50 was collected as fuel cess. In fiscal 2007 a 50 paisa cess was levied on fuel dedicated for national highways.
Since 2006-07, Rs 2 per litre was being collected as cess, out of which 50 paise goes towards national highways. From the remaining Rs 1.50 per litre, 50 per cent of cess collected from HSD is only routed for rural road development. This leaves 50 per cent of cess on HSD and the entire cess collected on petrol. This is allocated between national highways (57.5 per cent), road-over-bridges, unmanned level crossing (12.5 per cent), and state roads (30 per cent).
