‘Andhra Pradesh government will lose Rs 6000 crore if fuel prices brought under GST’

VIJAYAWADA:At a time when the demand to include petrol and diesel prices under Goods Service Tax  (GST) ambit is gaining momentum with fuel prices reaching all-time high, the Andhra Pradesh government has made it clear that it will oppose such a move.

During a discussion on the Andhra Pradesh Goods and Service Tax (Amendment ) Bill, 2018, in the AP Legislative Assembly on Monday, Finance Minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu said AP would suffer a loss of Rs 6,000 a year if petrol and diesel were brought under GST ambit. “Who will compensate the burden? Already the Centre, instead of bearing expenditure, is collecting cess from the State governments for giving compensation to those States, which are losing revenue after GST implementation,’’ he said.

The State government, which is collecting Rs 4 as additional VAT on petrol and diesel, had slashed Rs 2 in the prices of petrol and diesel per litre to provide some relief to customers.

Stating that revenue of the Centre from fuel has increased a lot, Yanamala urged the Union government to slash excise duty if it is sincere to give relief to consumers instead of blaming the State governments. BJP floor leader P Vishnu Kumar Raju said that AP was collecting highest VAT on petrol and diesel as compared to other southern States. He  urged the government to support the move to bring them under GST for reducing prices. Yanamala replied the State government had extended support to GST in view of the larger interests of the nation. “But, the ‘one nation, one tax’ failed in safeguarding the interests of the States with Centre having ultimate power in the GST Council,” he said.

Underscoring the need for change in voting pattern in GST Council, he said 75% votes were mandatory for passing a resolution. “Even if all the States and UTs come together, the voting share stands at 66.67 %. Thus, though the Centre has  33.33 % vote share, no resolution can be passed without Centre’s nod,” he said.