New Delhi, Oct 4(India Today): Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today laid down a three-point plan to bring petrol and diesel prices under control.
The first aspect of this plan involves the government cutting excise duty by Rs 1.5 per litre of petrol and diesel. Oil marketing companies, simultaneously, will take a Re 1 per litre hit as well.
What this means is that effectively, the prices of petrol and diesel will come down immediately by Rs 2.5 per litre.
Jaitley made this announcement at a surprise press conference in New Delhi where he once again, blamed international crude prices for the near-daily rise in petrol and diesel prices.
Jaitley was still speaking as of last updating this report.
Speaking generally about the Indian economy, Jaitley said that the government has cut down on its borrowing this year and that oil companies have been authorised to raise money internationally with the help of oil bonds.