Bringing petrol, diesel and other petroleum products under the single nation-wide GST regime will reduce taxes on these products and increase the revenue of both the Centre and states, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said.
The GST Council on September 17 had decided to continue keeping petrol and diesel out of the GST purview, as subsuming the current excise duty and VAT (value-added tax) into one national rate will impact revenues.
“In the GST Council, finance ministers of states are also members. Some states are against bringing petrol and diesel under…GST,” Gadkari said.
While addressing the Times Now Summit virtually, Gadkari said, “If petrol and diesel will be brought under the GST regime, then taxes on these products will be reduced and revenue of both the Centre and the states will increase.” “Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will definitely try to bring petrol and diesel under GST if she gets the support of the state governments,” he further added.
Sitharaman, after the GST Council meeting in Lucknow, had said the Council discussed the issue only because the Kerala High Court had asked it to do so but felt it was not the right time to include petroleum products under GST.
“It will be reported to the High Court of Kerala that it was discussed and the GST Council felt that it wasn’t the time to bring the petroleum products into the GST,” she had said.
“The way the Centre has provided relief to the common man (by cutting excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 5 and Rs 10 per litre, respectively), there is an expectation that the states will also cut taxes (VAT rates) on diesel and petrol to provide relief to the common man,” Gadkari replied to a question on the centre’s recent decision to cut excise duty on petrol and diesel by a record Rs 5 and Rs 10 per litre to help bring down rates down from their highest-ever levels.
