'Not possible to bring fuel under GST for next 8-10 yrs'

New Delhi: BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi on Wednesday said it is not possible to bring petrol and diesel under the GST regime for the next eight to 10 years as it would cause an annual revenue loss of Rs 2 lakh crore to all states.

Centre and states collectively collect over Rs 5 lakh crore tax on petroleum products, Modi told the Rajya Sabha while participating in a discussion on the Finance Bill 2021.

The statement assumes significance in view of the rise in petrol price for the past over one year which even touched Rs 100 per litre in some states.

In the first reduction in rates in over a year, petrol price on Wednesday was cut by 18 paise per litre and diesel by 17 paise a litre as international oil prices tumbled to the lowest since early February.

Petrol price was cut to Rs 90.99 a litre in Delhi from Rs 91.17 per litre. Diesel now comes for Rs 81.30 a litre in the national capital, down from Rs 81.47 previously.

Rates have been reduced across the country and vary from state-to-state depending on the local incidence of taxation (VAT).

This is the first reduction in fuel prices in over a year. The prices were last reduced on March 16, 2020.

"It is not possible to bring petrol and diesel under GST regime in the next eight to 10 years because states would not be ready for an annual revenue loss of Rs 2 lakh crore (collectively by all states)," Modi told the House.

"If petrol or diesel would be brought under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime then how would the loss of ₹2 lakh crore revenue to states be recovered. The Centre and states together earn over Rs 5 lakh crore from tax on petroleum products," he said.

He explained that if petroleum products are brought under the GST, 28 per cent tax would be collected on them as that is the highest slab in the

tax regime.