Government revises fuel export levies for fortnight beginning June 1, domestic rates unchanged

The Central government has revised export levies on petrol, diesel and aviation turbine fuel (ATF) for the fortnight beginning June 1. The duty has been set at ₹1.5 per litre on petrol exports, ₹13.5 per litre on diesel exports and ₹9.5 per litre on ATF exports, as per an official notification. However, the Centre has left excise duty rates on petrol and diesel sold in the domestic market unchanged. According to the notification, the revised rates have been prescribed based on the average international prices of crude oil, petrol, diesel and ATF prevailing during the period since the last review. The export levies were introduced on March 27, 2026, to ensure domestic availability of petroleum products by discouraging exports in the backdrop of the West Asia crisis. The last revision came into effect on May 16, 2026. On May 16, the government revised export taxes on petroleum products, imposing a special additional excise duty (SAED) of ₹3 per litre on petrol exports while reducing the duty on diesel to ₹16.5 per litre. The notification by the Ministry of Finance stated that the entry of ₹3 per litre shall be substituted for petrol exports, while diesel has been revised to ₹16.5 per litre. It further said the road and infrastructure cess has been reduced to zero on petrol and diesel exports. Domestic fuel tax rates remained unchanged. Earlier, export duty on diesel was revised multiple times. It was first set at ₹21.50 per litre on March 26, then raised to ₹55.5 per litre on April 11. Later, it was cut to ₹23 per litre on April 30, and has now been further reduced to ₹16.5 per litre. Similarly, aviation turbine fuel (ATF) followed a similar pattern. The duty was first ₹29.5 per litre, then increased to ₹42 per litre. It was later reduced to ₹33 per litre and has now been brought down to ₹16 per litre. The windfall tax framework was introduced to ensure adequate domestic fuel availability and curb exports amid volatile global oil markets triggered by the West Asia crisis.