New Delhi, Feb 1: While presenting the Union Budget 2018-19, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley struck a chord with motorists across the nation as he announced a cut in the basic excise duty on fuel by Rs 2 per litre, apart from a reduction in additional excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 6 per litre.

While the announcement was initially assumed as a measure to bring down the soaring fuel prices, it was later revealed that the cuts would only offset the brunt of the newly introduced road cess, which would be charged at Rs 8 per litre.

"Thereby, the final price of petrol and diesel would remain unchanged for the consumer," Finance Secretary Hasmukh Adhia explained while speaking to a news channel.

Ahead of the release of Budget, speculations were rife over the government rolling out measures to control the raging fuel prices, especially petrol which has crossed the Rs 80-benchmark in Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Pune, Chennai and Noida.

Opposition was quick to target the Finance Minister, accusing him of deceiving the public by his announcement of excise duty cuts. "This is jumlanomics. The announcement to cut excise duty on petrol was fraudulent as the government has silently hiked the cess on fuel," said CPM chief Sitaram Yechury.

The fuel prices, which are revised on daily basis, have constantly been rising since December 1. With the petrol  cost now surging beyond the Rs 80-benchmark, motorists have recalled the similar price surge of 2013, when the erstwhile government led by Dr Manmohan Singh drew severe flak.

Interestingly, the rate of brent crude oil was around $128 per barrel in September 2013, when the petrol prices in Mumbai had skyrocketed to as high as Rs 83.62. On the other hand, the incumbent crude oil price is hovering around $71 per barrel mark, which has resulted in the rise of domestic petrol rate to as high as Rs 80.77 in Mumbai region.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 01, 2018 09:49 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).