'Not a single State asked us to include petroleum products in GST Council agenda'

In a reply during the Question Hour in the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs Anurag Thakur clarified that not a single State asked the Centre so far to have a discussion on ‘inclusion of petroleum products under the GST regime’ in the GST council meetings.

Business Desk, ETV Bharat: The Central Government has not received a single representation from any State so far on the inclusion of petroleum products under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime.

While responding to a question raised by JD (U) MP Rajeev Ranjan Singh during the Question Hour in the Lok Sabha Monday, Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs said: “The agenda of GST Council meeting is prepared on the basis of suggestions made by various states. So far, not a single state suggested us to include this subject (inclusion of petroleum products in GST) in the agenda.”

The Minister further clarified that the Centre is open to take up the subject in the next meeting of GST Council that will be attended by both the Centre as well as States.

The inclusion of petroleum products like petroleum and diesel under the GST framework is a long pending issue and it has caught the public attention recently due to rising prices of auto fuels.

Experts as well as opposition parties have pointed out that by bringing petrol and diesel under GST, the cascading effect of taxes can be avoided and, as a result, these products can be sold at a much cheaper price.

At present, the Centre levies excise duty, additional excise duty and agri infrastructure development cess on petrol and diesel, while the states levy value added tax and sales tax on these items.

As per an estimate, as much as 60 per cent of the retail price of petrol is made up of central and state taxes. Whereas, taxes make up for about 56 per cent of retail diesel price.

Since last February oil marketing companies have increased the price of petrol by Rs 4.22 per litre and the retail price of diesel was up by Rs 4.34 a litre.

As a result, petrol has already crossed Rs 100 per litre mark in parts of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, while in most parts of the country it is above Rs 90 per litre mark.

Similarly, the price of diesel is also on the rise and touched Rs 90 per litre mark in all the major metros.

(Shravan Nune)