Question map
Which of the following components of Central Government taxes on petroleum products is/are not shareable with the States?
Explanation
Under Article 270 of the Constitution, the 'Divisible Pool' of tax resources shared between the Union and States excludes specific items such as cesses and surcharges [3]. In the context of petroleum products, the Central Government levies several components: Basic Excise Duty (BED), Special Additional Excise Duty (SAED), Road and Infrastructure Cess (RIC), and Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Cess (AIDC) [2]. While Basic Excise Duty is shareable with the States as part of the divisible pool, cesses and surcharges are not [1]. Specifically, the Road and Infrastructure Cess and the Special Additional Excise Duty (which functions as a surcharge) are retained entirely by the Centre. Consequently, components like SAED and RIC are not shareable, whereas BED is distributed based on Finance Commission recommendations [3]. Therefore, options 2 and 3 (SAED and RIC) are the non-shareable components.
Sources
- [1] Indian Economy, Vivek Singh (7th ed. 2023-24) > Chapter 4: Government Budgeting > The XV Finance Commission has recommended the following transfers for 2021-26: > p. 182
- [3] Indian Polity, M. Laxmikanth(7th ed.) > Chapter 15: Centre-State Relations > B. Taxes Levied and Collected by the Centre but Assigned to the States (Article 269): The following taxes fall under this category: > p. 154
- [2] https://ppac.gov.in/prices/central-excise-and-customs-rate-on-major-petroleum-products