The government has kept the possibility of levying an additional cess of 50 paise per litre on auto fuel for part-financing the ongoing Rs 54,000 crore National Highways Development Project (NHDP) in abeyance.
Following a meeting among the representatives of the Planning Commission, the ministry of road transport and highways and the finance ministry for exploring the possibility of levying an additional cess on petrol and diesel, the ministry of roads has been directed to work out the financing option for the second phase of the project so that a decision on levying an additional cess can be taken for plugging any possible resource gap.