People refuel their vehicles at a petrol pump in Bengaluru on May 15, 2026.
| Photo Credit: J. Allen Egenuse
Seeking to provide further momentum to the export of fuels, the Finance Ministry, in a late gazette notification issued Friday night, informed that it has hiked the export duty on petrol to ₹3 per litre from nil while reducing the export duty on diesel and aviation turbine fuel (ATF) to ₹16.5 and ₹16 per litre, respectively.
There has been no change in the existing excise duty rates for petrol and diesel for domestic consumption.
Also read: Petrol and diesel price hikes highlighted on May 15, 2026
The Ministry has been conducting a fortnightly assessment to gauge the appropriate levy since the conflict in West Asia escalated.
The last such revision was undertaken on May 1. It reduced the excise duty on the export of diesel to ₹23 per litre from the previous ₹55 per litre and that of aviation turbine fuel to ₹33 per litre from ₹42 per litre.
The Special Additional Excise Duty (SAED) on the export of petrol has been retained at nil.
“Export levies [Special Additional Excise Duty (SAED)/Road and Infrastructure Cess (RIC)] on the exports of petrol, diesel and aviation turbine fuel (ATF) were introduced with effect from 27th March, 2026 so as to ensure domestic availability of petroleum products by disincentivising exports in the backdrop of the West Asia crisis,” read the government’s statement on April 30.
Published – May 16, 2026 12:11 am IST
