Would Modi government include petrol and diesel under GST?

The congress-led Bharat Bandh today on the Centre of revising excise duty on petrol and diesel twelve times leading to a sharp spike in their prices is conducted with the motive of getting petrol and diesel included under GST. Many congress politicians have accused the Modi government of not making this inclusion on purpose.

“Before the two fuels are put under GST, the Centre has to decide if it is willing to let go of the about Rs 20,000 crore of input tax credit it currently pockets by keeping petrol, diesel, natural gas, jet fuel and crude oil out of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime that came into force from July 1, 2017”, reported Times Of India in June, 2018.

A government official’s reply to this was the example of other countries of the world where there is no pure GST on petrol and diesel. It’s the combination of GST and VAT everywhere, and so is it in India.

Also read:- Can Baba Ramdev really sell petrol at cheap prices to us?

But the point here is, the government at center is earning crores from this settlement, which it definitely would not want to let go, when it even has the excuse-cum-example of other countries of the world.

According to the opposition, the government, if it wants, can regulate the increasing prices. Right now, many countries are importing petrol and diesel at cheap rates from India, while it’s getting more and more expensive for us.

If petrol and diesel were included in GST, the prices would have reduced by Rs.10-15 per liter.