Dharmendra Pradhan, Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister, on September 17 expressed concern over soaring fuel prices and while reiterating his stand said that petrol and diesel should come under the ambit of Goods and Services Tax (GST).
Petroleum Minister Pradhan said, “I want petrol and diesel to come under the ambit of GST. The GST Council should take a decision on this.”
Shifted the burden of bringing about the change on the level of state governments he added, “The state governments are more powerful than the Centre in GST Council meeting.”
He said this during his visit in Jharsuguda to review the preparations ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to inaugurate various infrastructure development projects in Odisha.
“I have already told about that State government need to cooperate as well. Many states have reduced state tax. Odisha government should also reduce taxes. The central government had reduced excise duty last October. Excise duty is fixed. If oil prices go up in international markets, the states benefit more and this information is now in the public domain. I had put out the facts about how the states use to earn less than Rs 3000 crore during 2014, now they can earn about Rs 7000 crore. So now the onus is on the state to reduce taxes” added Petroleum Minister.
Petroleum Minister maintained that the Government was concerned about the rise in fuel prices and was working on a long-term solution.
