The Centre revised the duty structure on exports of petroleum products with effect from September one, cutting the Road and Infrastructure Cess (RIC) on diesel exports to Rs one per litre from Rs three per litre and reducing the Special Additional Excise Duty (SAED), or windfall tax, on diesel exports to Rs 19 per litre from Rs 24 per litre. The revision applies for the next fortnight and follows the government practice of reviewing export levies on petroleum products every 15 days since the previous review.

Export levies in the form of SAED and RIC were introduced on March 27, 2026 with the aim of ensuring domestic availability of petroleum products by discouraging exports amid the West Asia crisis. Under the revised structure effective September one, the SAED for petrol exports has been fixed at Rs one point five per litre with no RIC, while the SAED on aviation turbine fuel (ATF) exports has been fixed at Rs 19 per litre.

The government said the rates have been prescribed on the basis of average international prices of crude oil, petrol, diesel and ATF prevailing during the period since the last review and that the changes relate only to petroleum products meant for export. There is no change in the existing excise duty rates on petrol and diesel cleared for domestic consumption under the present notifications issued by the Department of Revenue.

The revised rates were notified by the Central Government through three separate notifications issued by the Ministry of Finance's Department of Revenue on September one. The rates were last revised with effect from August 15, 2026 and the SAED and RIC mechanism will continue to be reviewed fortnightly as the government monitors international prices to balance domestic availability and export demand.