Indian Government Cuts the Windfall Taxes on Crude, Export of Diesel and Aviation Turbine Fuel

The Indian Government has cut the windfall tax on aviation turbine fuel, crude, and diesel from Rs. 5,050 per tonne to Rs. 4,350 ($52.60) from Thursday.

Written by: Arjita Gupta

Edited by: Krutarth Ghosalkar

Last Updated: February 16, 2023

Effective Thursday, the Indian Government reduced the windfall tax on diesel, crude, and aviation turbine to $52.60 or Rs. 4,350 per tonne from Rs. 5,050. The decline in tax was announced as Indian refiners have kept aside discounted Russian fuel for a while now because of an increase in people booking domestic flights. Thus, on 15 February, the government cut down the windfall tax on crude oil and exports of diesel as well as aviation turbine fuel.

Not only this, but the government also reduced the export tax drastically on aviation turbine fuel from Rs. 6 to Rs. 1.50 per litre. They also decreased the diesel export tax from Rs. 7.50 per litre to Rs. 2.50 as per the notification. In July, India imposed levies on the export of aviation fuel, diesel, and gasoline and a windfall tax on crude oil producers.

This decision was taken after the private refiners intended to generate gains from expanding the margins on refiners in the overseas market instead of selling the fuel at a lower price at home. Now with a cut in the said taxes, some respite may come for the Indian refiners and explorers whose profit margins were otherwise affected by the increased windfall taxes earlier.

Some of the affected firms were Vedanta Ltd., Reliance Industries, Petrochemicals Ltd, Oil India and Mangalore Refinery. These companies even saw their last quarterly results being impacted due to the taxes.