Annual burden of fuel tax cuts to be borne by Centre: Sitharaman

A day after announcing a hefty fuel tax cut, Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday said the two rounds of duty reductions—the last one being in November—will cost the exchequer Rs 2.2 lakh crore annually and the states’ share from the tax pool will not be affected as the Centre had opted to cut cess on petrol and diesel, which are outside the divisible pool.