Essential to bring petrol, diesel under GST, says Dharmendra Pradhan

With fuel prices skyrocketing to an all-time high, Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Friday has blamed "international factors" for it and said it is essential to bring petrol and diesel under the purview of GST.

Union Minister for Petroleum & Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan addresses at the inauguration of the academic session of the 1st batch of ICT Mumbai – Indian Oil Odisha Campus, in Bhubaneswar. PTI Photo

BHUBANESWAR: With fuel prices skyrocketing to an all-time high, Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Friday has blamed "international factors" for it and said it is essential to bring petrol and diesel under the purview of the GST. "It has now become essential to bring petrol and diesel under the purview of GST. As these two items are out of the GST, the nation has to bear a loss of about Rs 15,000 crore. If petrol and diesel are brought under the GST, it will be better for all including consumers," PTI quoted Pradhan as saying. On Centre's steps to reduce oil prices, Pradha said the current situation cannot be addressed just by cutting down the rate of excise duty. "The political situation in countries like Iran, Venezuela and Turkey has impacted the production of crude oil," Pradhan said. While replying to a question on his home state Odisha, Pradhan said the people will get relief if the state government reduces the tax on petrol and diesel. Meanwhile, fuel prices witnessed the steepest hike in the year so far with around 50-paise raise on Friday across the four metro cities. Both petrol and diesel prices have been at their all-time high in the country for around a week now, due to increase in crude oil prices and depreciation in the rupee against the dollar. Weakening of the Indian rupee makes the import of crude oil expensive. In the national capital, petrol prices rose by 48 paise to Rs 79.99 per litre on Friday, from Rs 79.51 per litre on Thursday, according to data on the Indian Oil Corporation's website. Similarly, in the other key cities of Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai, cost of petrol rose by 47 paise, 48 paise and 51 paise to Rs 82.88, Rs 87.39 and Rs 83.13 per litre on Friday, respectively. In tandem with petrol prices, cost of diesel also increased on Friday. In fact, the rise in diesel prices was above 50 paise per litre across the four major cities. Both in Delhi and Kolkata, diesel prices rose by 52 paise to 72.07 and Rs 74.92 per litre respectively. In the other metropolitan cities of Mumbai and Chennai, it was up 55 paise and 56 paise respectively, at Rs 76.51 and Rs 76.17 per litre on Friday. (With inputs from agencies)