Nirmala Sitharaman sets record straight on Excise cut; compares UPA rule subsidy figures

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on May 22 broke down the facts of the Centre's big move to slash Excise Duty on fuel. Taking to Twitter, Sitharaman revealed that the entire burden of the two duty cuts (in November 2021 and May 21) was borne by the Centre, since the Basic Excise Duty (BED), which is shareable with states, had not been touched. She also revealed that the duty reduction made on May 21, would have an implication of ₹ 1,00,000 crore a year for the Centre.

According to the Finance Minister, Excise Duty reduction of ₹ 8/litre on petrol and ₹6/litre on diesel had entirely been made in Road & Infrastructure Cess (RIC) and would have a revenue implication of ₹ 1,00,000 crore a year for the Centre. After adding the duty reduction made in November 2021, which has an implication of Rs 1,20,000 crore a year, the Centre would incur a loss of ₹ 2,20,000 crore a year, she revealed. 

UPA spent only Rs 13.9 lakh cr on subsidies in 10 years: Finance Min 

The Finance Minister also elaborated on the expenditure incurred by our Government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, versus 10 years of UPA rule. Since 2014, the total developmental expenditure incurred by the NDA Government was ₹ 90.9 lakh crore, as opposed to ₹ 49.2 lakh crore in 10-years of Congress rule, she said.

"The expenditure incurred by our Govt under Narendra Modi includes ₹ 24.85 lakh crore spent so far on food, fuel and fertiliser subsidies and ₹ 26.3 lakh crore on capital creation. Over the 10 years of UPA, only ₹ 13.9 lakh crore was spent on subsidies," she revealed. 

Centre slashes prices of petrol & diesel

In a big move to bring down the fuel rates in India, the Union Government slashed the Central Excise Duty on Petrol by ₹ 8 per litre and on Diesel by ₹ 6 per litre. Sitharaman announced that the decision had been taken after PM Modi specifically asked all arms of the government to work with sensitivity and give relief to the common man. The Centre has also exhorted all state governments, especially the states where the reduction wasn’t done during the last round, (November 2021), to also implement a similar cut and give relief to the common man. 

After the Centre's announcement, the Opposition, especially the Congress party came down heavily on the government for 'not doing enough' for the common man. The Congress party also dubbed the move as a 'jumla' and accused the Centre of 'fooling people' by juggling numbers on fuel prices.

Image: PTI