New Delhi: Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh on Friday said that the government is trying to build a consensus to bring petrol and diesel under the Goods and Services Tax. The Union Minister also highlighted the major hurdle in implementation of GST on fuel.
Puri, while delivering a lecture on "Strategy and Measures for Enhancing India's Energy Security in the Coming Decade" at the Pune International Centre's (PIC) 14th Foundation Day lecture, he said, "I have heard a suggestion to bring petrol and diesel under GST, now petrol and diesel under GST is something that I have been advocating for a long period of time. Now I am very sure that my senior colleague, the finance minister, has also spoken about bringing fuel under GST on several occasions."
Puri, while advocating for GST on fuel, also highlighted the major hurdle in its implementation. The Union Minister said that it would need approval from all states and that is going to be very challenging as petrol and diesel are significant revenue generators for them.
Puri admitted that states are unlikely to agree to this move, as liquor and energy are major revenue sources.
He also highlighted that the Kerala High Court had suggested discussing this issue in the GST Council, but the finance minister of Kerala didn't agree.
He said that non-BJP states are not willing to forego the additional VAT.
"The Kerala High Court, if I remember last year, had suggested that the GST council should take this up as in its agenda, and my recollection is that in a meeting in Allahabad, it came up in the meeting also , but as you know, the GST council works on the principle of consensus and unanimity and the state chief ministers have to agree. We are currently in the situation that BJP-ruled states have reduced their VAT, and non-BJP states are not even willing to forego the additional VAT, so I do not see that it is happening," he added.
Puri also pointed out that to bolster its energy security, India must prioritise strategic petroleum reserves and focus on exploration and production to lessen its dependence on imported fuels.
With a population of 1.4 billion and energy consumption projected to be three times the global average, India is set to become a significant player in the global energy landscape, Puri said.
Over the next two decades, India is expected to account for 25 per cent of the world's increase in energy consumption.
(With inputs from ANI)