Windfall tax on crude reduced, export duty on diesel halved

Effective sunday, the government cut the windfall tax on domestically-produced crude oil to Rs 8,000 per tonne from Rs 10,500, and halved the levy on export of diesel to Rs 5 per litre. It also scraped a levy of Rs 5 per litre on export of jet fuel, at the sixth fortnightly review of the one-off taxes on oil companies.

The taxes were introduced on July 1, as the Centre felt that elevated crude prices were allowing oil companies to make windfall profits, and that the exchequer must get a share of such gains. The reduction in tax rates follows the easing of crude oil prices in international markets.

In the previous review a fortnight ago,