Amid rising oil prices and fear mouting over high prices of petrol and diesel, the central government on Friday slashed excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 10 per litre each. The excise duty cuts mean that the levy on petrol now stands at Rs 3 per litre, and zero on diesel.However, it is to be noted that no announcement to slash the retail rates of fuel has been made.Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri said the government is bearing the high losses of oil companies, which is approximately 24 Rs/litre for petrol and 30 Rs/litre for diesel.He added that export tax has been levied as international prices of petrol and diesel have skyrocketed and any refinery exporting to foreign nations will have to pay export tax.“Government has taken a huge hit on it taxation revenues to ensure very high losses of oil companies (approximately 24 Rs/litre for petrol and 30 Rs/litre for diesel) at this time of sky high international prices are reduced. At the same time, export tax has been levied as international prices of petrol and diesel have skyrocketed and any refinery exporting to foreign nations will have to pay export tax,” he said in a post on X.International crude prices have gone through the roof in the last 1 month from around 70 dollars/barrel to around 122 dollars/barrel. Consequently, petrol and diesel prices for consumers have gone up all over the world. Prices have increased by around 30%-50% in South East Asian…— Hardeep Singh Puri (@HardeepSPuri) March 27, 2026Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also lauded the move saying the government took this decision to ensure that OMCs do not stop buying crude oil so that there is no shortage of fuel in the country. “We have raised the excise duty on export of ATF to ensure its availability in the country,” she said.Sitharaman added that this move will provide protection to consumers from rise in prices.In view of the West Asia crisis, the central excise duty on petrol and diesel for domestic consumption has been reduced by ₹10 per litre each. This will provide protection to consumers from rise in prices. Hon. PM @narendramodi has always ensured that citizens are protected from…— Nirmala Sitharaman (@nsitharaman) March 27, 2026Dinesh Kumar, petrol pump manager, said there is no issue with availability of petrol and diesel, adding that everybody is getting it easily and that there is no need to panic.Kumar, speaking to PTI said, “The government has reduced excise duty, so naturally the burden on the public will decrease. There is no issue with petrol and diesel availability; everyone is getting it easily and there is no panic. There is no problem in Delhi regarding supply. As you can see, people are coming, filling fuel and leaving, there are no queues. If there was panic, there would have been long lines, but that is not the case. We cannot comment on other states, but here everything is smooth. Tankers arrive daily on time, supply fuel to us, and we serve the public without any difficulty.”VIDEO | Janpath, Delhi: Excise duty on petrol slashed to Rs 3 from Rs 13; diesel cut to zero from Rs 10.Dinesh Kumar, petrol pump manager, says, “The government has reduced excise duty, so naturally the burden on the public will decrease. There is no issue with petrol and… pic.twitter.com/w5ny9FOwRP— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) March 27, 2026Another citizen, Shrikant, told PTI, “There is a global crisis, so difficulties are expected, but it is good for people if prices have been reduced.”VIDEO | Delhi: Excise duty on petrol slashed to Rs 3 from Rs 13; diesel cut to zero from Rs 10.Shrikant, while refueling his car at a fuel pump in Janpath, says, “There is a global crisis, so difficulties are expected, but it is good for people if prices have been reduced.”… pic.twitter.com/sATkKK8O9Q— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) March 27, 2026The government on Thursday assured that India currently has crude oil and fuel stocks to cover 60 days of consumption. The govt also said that there is no LPG shortage for households, adding the supply situation is improving with additional domestic production of the fuel along with cargoes coming in from non-West Asian suppliers.Story continues below this adThe union minister also said that all rumours regarding a lockdown are false, urging citizens to remain calm and not panic.