New Delhi: As the Union Finance Minister announced rise in special additional excise duty and road cess on petrol and diesel by Re 1 per litre each, both the fuels prices have increased by Rs 2 per litre, starting Friday night.

Speaking on the rising the fuel prices during her budget speech, Sitharaman said lower crude oil prices provide her with an opportunity to review taxes on the sector.

She also increased the customs duty on gold and precious metals from 10 per cent to 12.5 per cent to mobilise resources.

Basic customs duty was raised on an array of products including tiles, cashew kernels, vinyl flooring, auto parts, some synthetic rubber, digital and video recorder and CCTV camera.

Excise duty of Rs 5 per 1000 has been imposed on cigarettes of length exceeding 65 mm, while 0.5 per cent duty has been levied on chewing tobacco, zarda and tobacco extracts and essence.

Akhilesh dubs budget 'directionless'

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav Friday termed the Union Budget as "directionless", saying it has nothing for the youth, women and farmers. The Modi 2.0 government's maiden Budget Friday hiked petrol and diesel prices, raised import duty on dozens of items and increased tax on the super-rich as it sought to spur growth through higher spending and sops for startups, housing and corporates.

"The Union Budget presented in the Lok Sabha is totally directionless and aimless.It has only belied the hopes of the common people, Yadav said.
" The budget has nothing for the poor, farmers, youths ...," he said, adding that for the middle class, "it is like giving from one hand and taking from the other".

The cess imposed on diesel and petrol is going to increase its price by Rs 2.50 per litre and in turn increase the rates of all commodities, he said. "There is no effort to pull the poor out of poverty. It (budget) is silent on very vital issues and people's aspirations have been ignored," Yadav said.