New agri cess to be carved out of Centre's money, won't burden consumers: Nirmala Sitharaman to Network18 The Union finance minister said that to compensate for the additional cess, the government has reduced the excise duty component, resulting in no additional cost for the public FP Staff February 01, 2021 22:37:30 IST Nirmala Sitharaman during the interview with Network18. News18 Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman clarified on Monday that the new agriculture infrastructure and development cess which was announced during the budget on Monday won't be passed on to the consumers or states as it has been carved out of the additional excise duty imposed by the Central Government on certain goods such as petrol and diesel.