Kolkata: Kolkata-based Ascon Infrastructure India Ltd’s Managing Director Laxman Jaiswal has demanded to bring petroleum prices under the GST and hinted for PIL to bring relief for the citizens.
Laxman Jaiswal said, “The people of India have a right to cheaper fuel prices and also a reduction of prices of petroleum based products by bringing under the ambit of GST.”
He said, “The implementation of GST on five petro products – petrol, diesel, natural gas, crude oil and ATF has been deferred since 2017 in the pretext of loss of revenue for both the Union and the State Governments. This resulted in the industry losing on revenue as they were not able to offset GST tax they paid on input from those paid on the sale of products like petrol, diesel and ATF. With a historic increase in excise duty on petrol and diesel, the tax component on retail price of auto fuels has come closer to 70% level.”
“As fuel is still out of GST, raising duties is easier for both the centre and states, helping them raise revenue whenever there is an emergency. Government’s most recent decision to raise excise duty levels on petrol and diesel by historic high levels has taken up tax component on retail price of auto fuels closer to 70 per cent level. This is happening when the global crude oil prices are much lower than usual. The high set price of fuel also adds inflationary pressure on the economy that would just not be right at this juncture when the country is fighting the coronavirus outbreak,” Jaiswal said.
“We need to build up a nationwide consensus among the common citizens, industries, trade bodies who are suffering as no political party is showing any signs of opposition to this unchecked price rise. Keeping in mind the legal provisions a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) should be filed,” he added.
Ascon Infrastructure India Ltd is into Infra, Housing, Artificial Intelligence, Textiles, Marble and Granite industries spread over West Bengal, Karnataka and Dubai.
