Not much relevance of windfall tax on crude now: Advisor to PM

Advisor to Prime Minister Tarun Kapoor said on Wednesday that there is not much relevance of imposing windfall tax on crude oil at present.

Kapoor, who was earlier the Oil Secretary, said that Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas (MoPNG) has approached the Finance Ministry over the issue.

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“I think MoPNG has written to the Finance Ministry on removal of windfall Tax. It does not have much relevance now,” Kapoor told reporters on the sidelines of the World Biogas Associations’ India Congress 2023.

Now finance ministry will take a call on the issue.

Imposed in 2022, Windfall Tax is to counterbalance the unusually high profits earned by oil and gas companies from high global crude oil prices. The tax is reviewed every fortnight. 

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The government had slashed windfall tax on domestically produced crude oil to ‘nil’ per tonne with effect from September 18. The tax is levied in the form of Special Additional Excise Duty (SAED) and is notified fortnightly based on average oil prices in two weeks.