State says no to natural gas under GST ambit

Amaravati: The Finance Minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu opposed the Central government’s move to bring natural gas, one of the petroleum products, into Goods and Services Tax (GST) ambit.

“The statement of an official of GST Council which says that there is consensus among states about bringing Natural Gas into the ambit of GST,’’ is not correct, Ramakrishnudusaid in a press release on Saturday.

In fact, the Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu also strongly condemned the Central government’s decision of bringing natural gas into the GST ambit by saying that it was the right of state governments and central government should not take decisions unilaterally. Ramakrishnudu said that the proposal was not even circulated to the states by the Council so far. Issuing of statements by the officials of the Council on such important policy issues can’t be accepted. 

Minister stated that the state of Andhra Pradesh got a revenue of Rs 523 crores on sale of natural gas during the year 2017-18. Being the producer of the natural gas, if it is included in the GST, our state loses substantial revenue.  The State has already lost autonomy in raising fiscal resources with the introduction of GST with effect from 01.07.2017. Now with the inclusion of natural gas in GST,  will further affect the state’s revenue position. 

For the same reason the State government opposes introduction of other petroleum products in the GST. We will stand to lose substantially in terms of revenues if Petroleum products are included in GST, he explained. It is also observed that the Group of Ministers constituted by the Council to deliberate on various issues and make recommendations to the Council is issuing statements to the press before they are introduced in the Council which is incorrect, he added.

“Such press briefings are creating confusion in the minds of traders and other tax payers as they are getting the impressions that they are the decisions of the Council”, Ramakrishnudusaid. All these issues were addressed to the Chairman of the GST Council for appropriate actions, he added.