Indian refiners are seeing gains from diesel exports despite a high crude import bill. The government changed export duties on October 16 to balance domestic supply. While diesel duty fell to ₹8.50 per litre, petrol duty rose to ₹2.50. Private refiners use this flexibility more than state-run oil companies do.
The benefit of higher exports, however, is not uniform across the sector as private refiners have greater flexibility to divert supplies to export markets while state-run oil marketing companies (OMCs) primarily cater to domestic consumers.
The Indian government has also imposed Special Additional Excise Duty (SAED) on petrol, diesel, and aviation turbine fuel (ATF) as a policy tool to balance overseas sales with domestic availability amid volatility in global oil markets. Effective October 16, the export duty on petrol was increased from ₹0.50 per litre to ₹2.50 per litre, while the duty on diesel was reduced significantly from ₹16 per litre to ₹8.50 per litre. The export levies were introduced from March, as part of measures to ensure domestic availability of petroleum products by discouraging exports amid the West Asia crisis.