Pradhan hopes coming Budget will signal inclusion of ATF and natural gas in GST

New Delhi: Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Thursday hoped that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will signal the inclusion of jet fuel and natural gas under the ambit of GST to reduce multiplicity of taxes and improve the business climate.

When the Goods and Services Tax (GST) was introduced on July 1, 2017 amalgamating 17 central and state levies, five commodities namely crude oil, natural gas, petrol, diesel, and aviation turbine fuel (ATF) were kept out of its purview given the revenue dependence of state governments on this sector.

"Our expectation is that in the coming Budget, ATF and natural gas is included in GST," he said at a FICCI conference here.

Finance Minister is scheduled to present the Union Budget for 2020-21 fiscal on February 1.

Including ATF and natural gas will not just help companies set off tax that they paid on input but will also bring about uniformity in taxation on the fuels in the country.

Including natural gas in GST is said to be one of the biggest drivers of not just consumption but will also incentivize producers to spend more on finding and producing more gas as well as incentivize importers to bring in more LNG.

ATF makes up for almost half of the cost of an airline and rates vary from state to state depending on local VAT.