New Delhi, May 25 -- The Centre has forgone nearly Rs 14,000 crore in tax revenue after reducing excise duty on petrol and diesel to shield consumers from rising fuel prices triggered by the West Asia crisis, said Sujata Sharma, Joint Secretary in the Petroleum Ministry, on Monday.

The government had cut central excise duty by Rs 10 per litre on both petrol and diesel on March 27, following a sharp rise in global crude oil prices due to tensions in West Asia.

"West Asia crisis, our imports are affected, like 40% of our crude import, 90% of our LPG import and almost 65% of our natural gas import, but all efforts have been made to ensure the smooth supplies of petroleum products within the country," Sujata Sharma said.

She said the gover...