Hyderabad, May 21 -- Union Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on May 21 announced a sharp cut in central excise duty on fuel prices amid rising inflation.

In a series of tweets, the union minister claimed that the Central Government has always kept its citizens, particularly the common man and the poor as their number one priority.

"We are reducing the Central excise duty on petrol by Rs 8 per litre and on diesel by Rs 6 per litre. This will reduce the price of petrol by Rs 9.5 per litre and of diesel by Rs 7 per litre. It will have a revenue implication of around Rs.1 lakh crore/year for the government," she said in the tweet.

Blaming the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing Ukraine-Russia war, the finance minister said that despite all...