India Slashes Windfall Tax On Crude Oil And Aviation Fuel

India has slashed the windfall tax on crude oil and aviation turbine fuel (ATF) and lessened the tax on diesel. The Centre has already intiated a ruling for the same on, per a government ruling on 15 December 2022.

In an order released by the Centre, it slashed the tax on locally produced crude oil steeply to Rs. 1,700  per tonne from Rs. 4,900, effectual Friday. The government also slashed the diesel export tax to Rs. 5 per liter from Rs. 8, slashing the windfall tax on ATF to Rs. 1.5  per liter from Rs. 5,stateted the official order document.

Earlier, several media reports had said that India had paid for Russian crude barrels well below a $60 price cap agreed upon by the West. The government data released last week shows that India's fuel demand rose to an eight-month high in November, government data sent out last week showed. The action comes amid a 14 per cent recession in global crude since November. India is the world's third-largest buyer and importer of oil.

On 1 July, India levied the windfall tax on crude oil producers and levies on exports of gasoline, diesel, and aviation fuel after private refiners strived overseas markets to attain robust purifying margins rather than selling at lower-than-market rates in the country.

What is ATF?

Aviation Turbine fuel is a technological spin-off of crude oil or petroleum used to power airplanes. There must be performance procedures for the rich mixture condition needed for take off-power setting and cleaner mixtures used during a cruise to reduce fuel consumption.

The primary functions of ATF are to power aircraft and boost energy content and explosion quality. Other substantial execution properties of the product are stability, lubricity, fluidity, volatility, non-corrosivity, and cleanliness, besides demonstrating a source of energy; fuel is also used as a hydraulic fluid in engine control systems and as a coolant for precise fuel systems elements