New Delhi, May 9 -- The government is considering another increase in special excise duty on petrol and diesel to get a share of the windfall profits of oil marketing companies arising from low crude prices, people familiar with the matter said. There has been a 16.7% fall in the country's average crude oil import price (Indian basket) to $61.9 a barrel on Wednesday as compared to $74.31 a barrel on April 7, the day the government announced excise duty hikes on petrol and diesel by Rs.2 a litre. That increase was expected to fetch the government Rs.32,000 crore in 2025-26 ; if the government goes ahead with a Rs.4 increase (per litre) in the second round, it would fetch an additional Rs.64,000 crore this fiscal. "In a war like situation this is the right thing to do," one of the people cited above added, asking not to be named, and referring to India's measured, but strong response to Pakistan-sposored terrorists killing 26 civilians in Pahalgam on April 22, through targetted strikes against nine terror hubs in Pakistan occupied Kashmir and Pakistan itself on May 7. Pakistan responded to that attack by intensifying firing across the Line of Control and also launched missiled and drones at military targets in 15 Indian cities in the intervening night of May 7 and May 8, an attack that was successfully thwarted by Indian military. In response, India targeted Pakistan's air defence network across several locations, destroying the one in Lahore. International oil prices have plunged because of geo-political reasons and producers' decision to raise crude output ; benchmark Brent crude fell below $60 a barrel on Monday trade with Goldman Sachs expecting it to remain at $60 for the rest of 2025 and $56 in 2026. This is a boon for India which imports more than 87% of crude oil it processes. Brent fell by 1.65% on Wednesday to close at $61.12 a barrel. Due to sustained low input cost, oil marketing companies (OMCs)are enjoying high margins on sales of petrol and diesel , ranging between Rs 10-15 a litre depending on the type of crude they process. The people cited above said that the government may also pass on some symbolic benefit to the consumers by reducing pump prices of petrol and diesel by at least Rs.1 a litre each. This would also leave enough profit margins for both public and private sector OMCs, the first person said, adding that state-run oil companies also require support in recovering their revenue losses for selling cooking gas below market rates. The ministries of petroleum and finance did not respond to an email query . Addressing a press conference on 7 April after the government announced raising excise duty on petrol and diesel, petroleum minister Hardeep Puri said oil companies held inventories of 45 days costing them about $75 per barrel. He said companies would have some "headroom" to reduce pump prices of petrol and diesel when their inventory cost declines to $60 to $65 a barrel. Announcing the excise duty hike on April 7, the government justified allowing reasonable profit margins for state-run OMCs to offset some of their past losses (around Rs 41,338 crore) incurred by subsidising cooking gas supplied to over 330 million households. . State-run OMCs - Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) - enjoy monopoly in fuel retail business with about 90% market share. India's average crude oil import price fell to a 50-month low of $61.9 a barrel in the first week of May. The average price was last lower than this in February 2021, $61.22 a barrel....