India, March 27 -- India has eliminated key excise duty on petrol and diesel prices in India to shield refiners led by Indian Oil Corp. Ltd. from crude oil shocks emanating from the ongoing Iran war in West Asia.

In a series of late-night notifications, the Ministry of Finance announced that the special additional excise duty and additional excise duty on petrol have been cut to "nil". For diesel, the government set the special additional excise duty at Rs.18.5/litre and the additional excise duty at Rs.3/litre.

These measures, effective immediately, arrive as Brent crude remains volatile near $100 a barrel, having recently touched peaks of $119 following military strikes on Iranian infrastructure. India, which imports ~88% of its crude...