Petrol-Diesel Under GST: Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri has once again talked about building a consensus on bringing petrol and diesel under the purview of Goods and Services Tax (GST). Puri said this while delivering a lecture on "Strategy and Measures for Enhancing India's Energy Security in the Coming Decade" at a program organized on the 14th Foundation Day of Pune International Center (PIC) on Friday, 27 September.

The finance minister also agrees.

According to ANI, Singh said, "I have heard the suggestion to bring petrol and diesel under the ambit of GST. Bringing petrol and diesel under GST is a move I have been advocating for a long time. Now I am sure that my senior colleague, the Finance Minister, has also spoken about bringing fuel under GST on several occasions."

He further said that to enhance the country's energy security, India needs to focus on strategic petroleum reserves and prioritize exploration and production to reduce its dependence on imported fuel.

India's importance in energy matters

The Union Minister highlighted that with a population of 1.4 billion and energy consumption three times higher than the global average, India is well positioned to become a major player in the global energy space. He said that in the next two decades, India could contribute to 25 percent of the growth in global energy consumption.

A lot of revenue comes from petrol and diesel.

Puri stressed that consensus of all states is needed to achieve this goal (bringing petrol and diesel under the ambit of GST) and acknowledged the challenges in involving states as they get significant revenue from petrol and diesel.