KPCC President G Parameshwara urged the Centre to bring petroleum products under GST ambit to check the steep hike in their prices due to increase in excise duty.
By bringing petrol and diesel under GST regime, the prices of the petroleum products would reduce by nearly 50 per cent, he told reporters here.
"Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan too has been pitching for inclusion of petroleum products in GST ambit," he said. He said the Centre has hiked excise duty 14 times, from 9.5 per cent to 21.5 per cent, in the last three years and asked if the additional revenue benefits have been passed on to people of the country.
By increasing the excise duty, the Central government's revenues has shot up, from Rs 77,982 crore in 2014 to Rs 2,42,961 crore in September 2017 and there has been an increase in revenue collection.
"What has the Modi government done with this additional revenue? Has its benefits passed on to the people?", he asked. Parameshwara alleged that the Centre has been "cheating the public" without giving appropriate answers for the hike, even though the crude oil prices globally have been plummeting.
The centre should make efforts to cut petroleum prices, especially when the global crude oil prices per barrel have decreased from USD 96 in 2014 to USD 52 now.
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