Petroleum and natural gas minister Dharmendra Pradhan has said he would write to the states to bring uniformity in the value-added tax (VAT) on petroleum products so that the benefit of price cuts can reach the masses.
“Unless the states simplify their tax regime, people would not get the benefit. I am going to write letters to the chief ministers for bringing uniformity in the tax structure vis-à-vis petroleum products,” Pradhan said. The minister said the states should bring uniformity in VAT on petroleum products.
On the varied tax structure of states, he said, “Somewhere the tax (VAT) is 4 per cent, while in some other states it is 24 per cent. There would certainly be a huge difference in the prices of petrol and diesel.”
Pradhan said it depended on the market wisdom of the states to decide whether they wanted to shore up their revenues from petroleum products by keeping taxes lower and selling more or letting the prices remain high and selling less. He added that the government had cut diesel prices by Rs 5.50 per litre in the past 20 days.
On the reluctance of truck and bus owner associations to cut transportation costs in tandem with the falling diesel prices, Pradhan said it was the responsibility of the state governments to implement the decision so that the benefits could be fully enjoyed by the end consumers.
He said Saudi Arabia, from where India imports 20 per cent of its oil need, was keen to invest in the domestic petroleum sector. The West Asian country will open a business development office in India.
“I visited Saudi Arabia recently and witnessed positive sentiments about India. It earlier used to provide only oil to us, but now it is strongly requesting to go beyond buyer-seller relations and invest in our country,” he said.
“Unless the states simplify their tax regime, people would not get the benefit. I am going to write letters to the chief ministers for bringing uniformity in the tax structure vis-à-vis petroleum products,” Pradhan said. The minister said the states should bring uniformity in VAT on petroleum products.
On the varied tax structure of states, he said, “Somewhere the tax (VAT) is 4 per cent, while in some other states it is 24 per cent. There would certainly be a huge difference in the prices of petrol and diesel.”
Pradhan said it depended on the market wisdom of the states to decide whether they wanted to shore up their revenues from petroleum products by keeping taxes lower and selling more or letting the prices remain high and selling less. He added that the government had cut diesel prices by Rs 5.50 per litre in the past 20 days.
On the reluctance of truck and bus owner associations to cut transportation costs in tandem with the falling diesel prices, Pradhan said it was the responsibility of the state governments to implement the decision so that the benefits could be fully enjoyed by the end consumers.
He said Saudi Arabia, from where India imports 20 per cent of its oil need, was keen to invest in the domestic petroleum sector. The West Asian country will open a business development office in India.
“I visited Saudi Arabia recently and witnessed positive sentiments about India. It earlier used to provide only oil to us, but now it is strongly requesting to go beyond buyer-seller relations and invest in our country,” he said.
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