The Union government’s tax collections on petrol and diesel jumped by 88 per cent to Rs 3.35 lakh crore in the year to March 31 after Excise Duty was raised to a record high, the Lok Sabha was informed on Monday. 

Excise Duty on petrol was hiked from Rs 19.98 per litre to Rs 32.90 last year to recoup gains arising from international oil prices plunging to multi-year low as pandemic gulped demand. The same on diesel was raised to Rs 31.80 from Rs 15.83 a litre, according to a written reply to a question given by Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Rameswar Teli in the Lok Sabha. 

This led to Excise Duty collections on petrol and diesel jumping to Rs 3.35 lakh crore in 2020-21 (April 2020 to March 2021) from Rs 1.78 lakh crore a year ago, the minister said. The total Excise Duty collection in FY21 was Rs 3.89 lakh crore.  

Collections would have been higher but for fuel sales falling due to lockdown and other restrictions imposed to curb the spread of the Coronavirus pandemic, which has muted economic activity and stalled mobility. 

In 2018-19, Excise Duty collections on petrol and diesel were Rs 2.13 lakh crore. 

To a separate question, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said Excise Duty collections in April-June this year totalled Rs 1.01 lakh crore. This number includes Excise Duty on not just petrol and diesel but also ATF, natural gas and crude oil.