Government Raises Export Duties on Diesel and Jet Fuel

The Union finance ministry on 15 June 2026 raised the export duties on diesel and aviation turbine fuel (ATF), also called jet fuel. The duty on diesel exports was increased to Rs 14 per litre from Rs 13.5, while the duty on ATF exports was raised to Rs 12.5 per litre from Rs 9.5. The revised rates take effect from the next day. The export levy on petrol was left unchanged at Rs 1.5 per litre.

These duties are part of the Special Additional Excise Duty (SAED), a flexible tax the government places on certain products, mainly domestic crude oil and exported fuels like petrol, diesel and ATF. The export levies were first introduced on 27 March 2026 to make sure enough fuel stays available within India by discouraging exports, against the backdrop of the West Asia crisis. The government reviews and revises these rates every fortnight, based on average international prices of crude and fuels.

What is interesting is that the duties were raised even though global crude prices have recently fallen. Brent crude was trading around $83 per barrel, compared with about $95 a fortnight earlier, and prices slumped nearly 5% after the US-Iran peace deal was announced. Despite this fall, the higher export duties signal that the government still wants to keep more fuel at home, partly because experts doubt how long the peace and stable supply will last.

This is because the Strait of Hormuz, which carries about 20% of global oil and gas trade, was badly disrupted during the conflict. Even if shipping routes reopen, damage to refining and gas facilities means output cannot return to normal quickly. So supply worries remain even as prices ease.

When such export levies were first imposed on 27 March, the rates were much higher, at Rs 21.5 per litre on diesel and Rs 29.5 per litre on ATF, and the government had expected to collect about Rs 1,500 crore in two weeks. Similar windfall taxes were first used in 2022 during the peak of the Russia-Ukraine war and were withdrawn in 2024 before being brought back this year.