New Delhi, May 20 (IANS) Rajya Sabha MP Sasmit Patra met Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday and submitted a detailed representation urging the initiation of structured national deliberations on the inclusion of petrol and diesel under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) framework.

In his representation, Patra emphasised that the constitutional framework under Article 279A(5) already envisages the eventual inclusion of petroleum products within GST through the recommendation of the GST Council.

He noted that while the matter had previously been deliberated upon in the GST Council following directions of the Kerala High Court, prevailing economic conditions now warrant a fresh, pragmatic and consultative reconsideration of the issue.

The BJD MP highlighted that fuel prices directly impact inflation, transportation and logistics costs, agricultural input costs, MSME operating expenditure and household consumption patterns across the country. He underlined that interstate disparities in VAT structures continue to dilute the objective of tax harmonisation and market integration envisioned under GST.

Drawing attention to Odisha’s economic profile as a major mining, industrial and logistics-intensive State, Patra observed that calibrated GST inclusion of petrol and diesel could significantly reduce freight and supply-chain costs, improve industrial competitiveness and provide substantial economic relief to ordinary citizens, farmers, transport operators and MSMEs.

At the same time, he acknowledged the legitimate concerns of States regarding revenue stability arising from petroleum taxation and therefore advocated a balanced and phased framework rather than immediate unconditional inclusion. He proposed that the GST Council may consider a calibrated GST slab structure, transitional compensation support for States, a limited revenue-protection cess mechanism and a formula-based fiscal stabilisation framework during the transition period.

Patra further requested the Finance Minister to facilitate broad-based consultations with all States and consider constituting a technical and fiscal working group to examine implementation models and build national consensus on phased integration of petroleum products within the GST architecture.

–IANS

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