Petrol Stop

Jaipal Reddy wants Rs 80,000 additional tax on diesel cars

Friday, 27 January 2012

28 Jan 2012;timesofindia.indiatimes.com:NEW DELHI: If S Jaipal Reddy has his way, diesel car prices would rise substantially shortly. The oil minister on Friday formally proposed to finance minister Pranab Mukherjee to slap an additional excise duty of Rs 80,000 on diesel vehicles in the Union Budget, a move that is bound to be opposed by the automotive industry and the department of heavy industries. During his meeting with Mukherjee on the oil ministry's budget wish list, Reddy also sought a 10-year tax holiday for oil and gas hunting companies and new refineries as well as removal of 5% import duty on gas imported in ships. The idea of additional excise levy has been tossing around in the oil ministry since 2008-09 as a way of raising funds to at least partially meet the Centre's burden on subsidizing diesel. But the idea never made it to the formal discussion table since it was felt that the funds garnered would not be significant in view of the massive size of the fuel subsidy burden.