Fuel under GST: FM says work to begin post Budget session

There has been an increasing buzz around including petrol and diesel into the GST regime. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 22 had said that the Centre and States should sit together and see how best to handle this.

Speaking to CNBC-TV18 at the 16th edition of India Business Leaders Awards (IBLA), Sitharaman said that currently, she has not started any work on taking the fuel issue to GST Council.

“I have not done any work on getting some formulation before me which I could take to the GST Council. In the GST scheme of things, petroleum is already there with zero-rating. But it is the question now if there is a need for me to have to work to see if I can have a formulation and then the formulation goes to the GST Council and so on -- I have not started doing any work as yet,” she said.

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However, she said that work on this will start after the budget session.

“I am sure now the interest is on this topic from all sides – Centre and States. But if I have to be fair, I have not done enough work to take it to the GST Council as yet because I am waiting to have this Budget session successfully cleared. Post that is when I can even think in terms of working on other things,” she said.