Wed Sep 18 04:26:04 UTC 2024: ## India Cuts Windfall Tax on Crude Oil, Petrol and Diesel Prices Remain Steady

**New Delhi, September 18, 2024:** The Indian government has announced a significant reduction in the windfall tax on domestically produced crude oil, setting it to zero per tonne starting today. This special additional excise duty (SAED), which is reviewed bi-weekly based on average oil prices, was last revised on August 31st and stood at Rs 1,850 per tonne. The government has also maintained the windfall tax on exports of petrol, diesel, and ATF at zero.

Meanwhile, oil prices remained stable on Wednesday following gains in the past two days. Investors are eagerly awaiting the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision, expected later today. Brent crude futures for November declined by 3 cents to $73.67 a barrel, while US crude futures for October dropped by 11 cents, or 0.2%, to $71.08 a barrel, according to Reuters.

Sriram Iyer, Senior Research Analyst at Reliance Securities, commented, “Looking ahead from an intraday perspective, NYMEX and Brent crude oil prices have started weaker this early Wednesday morning in Asian trading ahead of EIA inventory and Fed meeting outcome. The consensus is that weekly inventories will fall by 100,000 barrels, and gasoline supplies will climb by 1.0 million barrels.”

Despite the reduction in the windfall tax, petrol and diesel prices across major Indian cities remained unchanged. Here are the latest fuel prices in select locations:

* **Kolkata:** Petrol – Rs 104.95/litre, Diesel – Rs 91.76/litre
* **Coimbatore:** Petrol – Rs 101.53/litre, Diesel – Rs 93.13/litre
* **Lucknow:** Petrol – Rs 94.66/litre, Diesel – Rs 87.78/litre
* **Faridabad:** Petrol – Rs 95.50/litre, Diesel – Rs 88.35/litre
* **Mumbai:** Petrol – Rs 103.44/litre, Diesel – Rs 89.97/litre
* **Chandigarh:** Petrol – Rs 92.24/litre, Diesel – Rs 82.40/litre
* **Nashik:** Petrol – Rs 104.91/litre, Diesel – Rs 91.41/litre
* **Bhopal:** Petrol – Rs 106.47/litre, Diesel – Rs 91.84/litre
* **New Delhi:** Petrol – Rs 94.72/litre, Diesel – Rs 87.62/litre
* **Bengaluru:** Petrol – Rs 102.86/litre, Diesel – Rs 88.94/litre
* **Vadodara:** Petrol – Rs 94.18/litre, Diesel – Rs 89.85/litre
* **Chennai:** Petrol – Rs 100.75/litre, Diesel – Rs 92.34/litre

The news of the windfall tax reduction comes amidst strong performance from equity mutual funds. With the exception of International Equity schemes, all other equity mutual fund categories have recorded an average return exceeding 15% CAGR over the past five years.

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