FM: GST for oil products needs states' consensus

New Delhi: The Centre favours including petroleum products in the ambit of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) but would want a consensus with the states before taking such a step, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Tuesday. During Question Hour in the Rajya Sabha, Congress leader and former finance minister P Chidambaram sought to know the union government's position on bringing petrol and diesel under the GST. He also sought to know why the prices of petrol and diesel did not decline with a fall in the global crude prices.

Jaitley responded by saying that a person familiar with the issue had asked the question. He said that the UPA in its draft GST bill had kept petrol out of its ambit as it knew that the issue would be a deal-breaker between the Centre and the states.