India cut its windfall tax on oil producers on Wednesday after a fall in international rates. The decision was announced less than three weeks after these levies were imposed.
The windfall taxes on diesel and aviation fuel shipments were reduced by INR 2 (3 cents) a litre and the levy of INR 6 (9 cents) per litre on gasoline exports was scrapped.
The government also granted exemptions to petroleum exports from refineries located in export-focused zones.
"Although, in absolute terms, the windfall taxes are still high, we believe steady normalization in local fuel availability (a key energy security concern for government), stability in oil prices, more normalized global fuel margins, and currency stability will help reduce windfall taxes further under fortnightly review," the Morgan Stanley observed in its note.
In the wake of the decision, shares of Reliance Industries Ltd jumped more than 4 percent in morning trade, indicating it would gain significantly from the decisions.
Reliance Industries can export petroleum products from its largest refinery in the Jamnagar area of Gujarat state without paying duty.
Reuters reported that the proportion of Russian oil in Reliance Industries' overall imports in May (1.4 million barrels per day) rose more than a fifth, whereas it has cut purchases from Middle East countries by 61 percent.
After windfall taxes were imposed, refiners' profitability from buying Russian oil decreased, which caused imports from Russia to slow down.
Bloomberg reported on Tuesday that oil shipments to China and India from Russia are down by almost 30 percent from their peak in the months after February this year.
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