Petrol and diesel may be subject to GST if Council decides: FM

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Monday that if the GST council makes a decision, petrol and diesel will be placed under the GST ambit.

She was in Jaipur for the post-budget news conference, when she fielded questions about petrol-diesel prices, inflation, and rising repo rates, among other things.

Addressing a question on bringing petrol and diesel within the GST scope, she said, “Petrol and diesel can be taken under the GST if the GST council, which is not run by any one government but finance ministers of all states, takes the call.”

“The Centre administration has stated unequivocally that we will include it as a GST item. Now is the time for the GST Council to make a decision and allow for a ‘open charcha’.”

In response to the Congress’ allegations of vindictive behaviour, the finance minister stated, “Investigative agencies such as the ED, CBI, and others conduct extensive research for a long period of time, and when they have the necessary prima facie material in their hands, after sending a number of questionnaires and receiving partial or no responses, they go. Any instinct cannot do it overnight.”

It’s remarkable that a party’s prior presidents, on money concerns or corruption are all out on bail and that is through courts. They also speak of vengeful politics.

“Each agency that has gone there has brought tangible material… some of which has been photographed by the media. Instead of blaming individuals of being vengeful, they should explain to the public and its own plenary why their persons have been released on bond by the court.”

“The Congress party should not speak at all about corruption and then bring in the issue of vindictiveness,” she remarked. “It’s a tragedy that, one after the other, every Congress government has come and gone out of office on corruption issues,” she added.