Acknowledging taxes to be one of the “main factors” behind high fuel prices in the country, Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan said on Monday that bringing petroleum products under the goods and services tax (GST) regime is one of the long term solutions as part of the Centre’s holistic strategy to address the problem.
“I have already categorically stated this issue several times. The present oil price hike is due to three main factors — hike in international price of crude, fluctuation in dollar and Indian currency ratio and some of the tax issues are also there. For a long term solutions, government of India is planning for a holistic strategy. Bringing petroleum products within the ambit of GST is one among them. We are sensitive, let’s see how things are unfolding,” Pradhan told reporters here.
However, the oil minister did not respond to a query on the timeline by when petroleum products could be brought under GST.
Petrol and diesel prices continued the upward trend for the 15th consecutive day on Monday, even as global crude oil prices receded from record high levels. According to the fuel prices sourced from Indian Oil Corporation, one litre of petrol retailed at Rs 78.27 on Monday vs Rs 78.12 in Delhi on Sunday. In Mumbai the prices rose beyond the Rs 86-mark to Rs 86.08. In Kolkata petrol retailed at Rs 80.91, while in Chennai it was at Rs 81.26. Meanwhile, the cost of diesel per liter has also been increased and the revised prices in Delhi and Mumbai are Rs 69.17 and Rs 73.64 per litre, respectively.
At Monday’s prices in Delhi, a breakup of the petrol price shows that while the price for dealers is Rs 38.51 per litre or 49.2 per cent of the retail selling price, the excise duty (Rs 19.48 per litre) accounts for almost 25 per cent of the retail price. VAT in Delhi (Rs 16.64 a litre) accounts for another 21 per cent. The final component is the dealer commission at Rs 3.64 per litre.
Source:-Indianexpress.com
