NEW DELHI, March 27 (Xinhua) -- India's federal government on Friday announced a cut in excise duty on petrol and diesel imports, and also rejected media reports of a lockdown-like crisis in the country.

Scene at a petrol pump in Jalandhar on May 21, 2022. (File photo: PTI)

Excise duty for petrol and diesel was slashed by 10 Indian Rupees (nearly 11 U.S. cents) per liter each, thus bringing them down to 3 Indian Rupees per liter of petrol and zero for a liter of diesel.

The country's Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri also said export tax had been levied as international prices of petrol and diesel had skyrocketed, and that any refinery exporting to foreign nations would have to pay export tax.

Puri also stated that the rumours of a lockdown in India were completely false. "Let me state this clearly, there is no such proposal under consideration by the Government of India," he posted on X.