Excise duty hike on petrol, diesel to be applicable from Nov 1
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New Delhi: In a bid to give the petroleum industry more time to implement the additional excise tax on fuels, the Union Finance Ministry has postponed the levy of the duty by a month.
In a gazette notification issued on Friday, the Ministry said that the additional excise duty of Rs 2 per litre of petrol and diesel that is not doped with ethanol and bio-diesel will be levied from November 1.
In the budget for 2022-23, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said that the additional levy would be applicable from October 1, but the commencement of the duty would be delayed by a month.
The Finance Ministry said in the new notification, “Petrol intended for retail sale and not blended with either ethanol or methanol will attract Rs 3.4 a liter basic excise duty, effective from November 1, 2022, instead of Rs 1.4 a liter currently. Branded petrol, not doped with ethanol, will attract an excise duty of Rs 4.6 a liter, as against the current Rs 2.6.”
Speaking of diesel, the Ministry said that bio-diesel would attract Rs 3.8 a liter basic excise duty instead of the current Rs 1.8 a liter, adding, “Branded diesel will have Rs 6.2 a liter duty as against the present Rs 4.2 a liter.”
Also, cess and special additional excise duty is levied on petrol and diesel. The total incidence of excise on petrol would be Rs 19.9 per liter, on diesel it would be Rs 15.8 a liter.
The third largest oil importer in the world, India relies on foreign suppliers to meet more than 85 per cent of its oil demand.
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NEET student hangs self in Rajasthan's Sikar
Jaipur (PTI): A student preparing for the NEET examination allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself in a rented room in Rajasthan's Sikar on Friday, police said.
According to the police, the student allegedly hanged himself from a ceiling fan using his sister's scarf while one sister was attending coaching classes and the other was in the bathroom.
He had appeared in the NEET UG exam 2026, which was cancelled due to paper leak, they said.
Udyog Nagar SHO Rajesh Kumar said that the deceased, identified as Pradeep Meghwal, was a resident of Kanika ki Dhani village in Jhunjhunu's Gudha Gaudji area.
He had been living in a rented room in Sikar's Jaldhari Nagar area with his two sisters while preparing for NEET over the last three years.
His elder sister later found him hanging and informed the landlord and police after bringing him down, officials said.
The SHO said the body was kept at SK Hospital mortuary, and a postmortem had not been conducted.
The student's father, Rajesh Kumar Meghwal, told police that Pradeep's NEET examination had gone well and the family was expecting him to score around 650 marks.
Former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot expressed grief over the incident and linked it to anxiety among students after reports of irregularities and paper leaks in NEET 2026.
Pilot said repeated paper leak incidents and cancellation of examinations were affecting students' mental health and demanded a time-bound investigation and strict action against those responsible.
