Shares in India energy stocks, including Reliance Industries, fell sharply on Friday after the government raised taxes on fuel exports.
The oil-to-retail conglomerate, India’s most valuable company, shed $19.35 billion in market value. Its stock plunged as much as 8.7%, marking its biggest intra-day slide since November 2020.
New Delhi imposed a 6 rupee per litre tax on petrol exports and a 13 rupee per litre tax on diesel exports.
Other India energy stocks, including ONGC, sank in early trading after the government raised taxes on exports of diesel, petrol, and jet fuel.
“This will dent Reliance profits, of which the oil refining business was roughly 40% in the fourth quarter,” said Deepak Shenoy of the Capitalmind brokerage.
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Nifty 50, Sensex Slide
The NSE Nifty 50 index dropped as much as 1.7% to 15,511.05, while the S&P BSE Sensex slid 1.74% to 52,094.25. The indexes on Thursday capped their worst quarter since the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Among other India energy stocks, state-owned ONGC and refiner Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemical slumped 10% each, while Vedanta dropped 7.6% to its lowest in 16 months.
The rupee hit a fresh record low of 79.11 against the dollar, versus Thursday’s close of 78.97.
- Reuters, with additional editing by George Russell
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