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New Delhi: The Centre has cut excise duty on petrol and diesel by ₹10 per litre to shield refiners from losses amid rising global oil prices due to the Iran war. Pump prices will remain unaffected. The government has also imposed export duties of ₹21.5 per litre on diesel and ₹29.5 per litre on aviation turbine fuel (ATF) to discourage private refiners from diverting supplies entirely to the highly lucrative export market and to keep domestic markets supplied. Such measures were first introduced in the early days of the Russia-Ukraine war four years ago.Central taxes, including excise duty and cess, have now fallen to ₹11.9 per litre for petrol and ₹7.8 per litre for diesel. At current rates of local sales and exports, the government will lose ₹7,000 crore in a fortnight due to the duty cut and gain ₹1,500 crore from the export tax, Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs chairman Vivek Chaturvedi said.This translates into an annual revenue loss of ₹1,82,500 crore from duty cuts and a gain of ₹39,100 crore from export taxes. Export tax will be reviewed every fortnight, Chaturvedi said.Oil minister Hardeep Singh Puri in an X said the government has taken a huge hit on its taxation revenues to reduce high losses of oil companies “at this time of sky-high international prices are reduced.”The minister estimated losses of oil marketing companies at “approximately ₹24 per litre for petrol and ₹30 per litre for diesel.”Since the beginning of the Iran war a month ago, rising crude prices and a weakening rupee have increased procurement costs for Indian refiners, who have not been able to raise pump prices. Brent has averaged $95 per barrel in March, up from $69 in February, while the rupee has fallen to 94.8 against the dollar, from 91.07 before the war. Nayara Energy, a private sector refiner with about 7% of the country’s petrol pumps, raised retail prices on Thursday, effectively shutting out consumers from its outlets. Nayara is also planning a maintenance shutdown next month.Sujata Sharma, joint secretary in the petroleum ministry, did not provide details on handling the likely consequences of Nayara’s price increase, which could shift demand to state-run fuel retailers.