H D Kumaraswamy hits out at attempts to bring petroleum products under GST

According to him, cess on petroleum products is one of the major sources of revenue for the states

Including petroleum products under GST will be a death knell to the finances of the state government, former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy said on Sunday.

Urging Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa to oppose such proposals by the Centre, he demanded that the Modi government reduce duties on petroleum products, before asking the states to do so.

There is a systematic ploy by the Central government to include petroleum products under the ambit of GST by using people's anger against fuel price rise.

"If petroleum products come under GST, it will be a death knell to the states," he said.

Taking a dig at the Centre for asking states to reduce excise on fuel, the JD(S) leader said that Centre should reduce its tax on petrol and diesel, if it was concerned about people's plight.

Read | Petrol price can come down to Rs 75 if brought under GST, say SBI economists

"Many states have already opposed the decision to bring petroleum products under GST. Chief Minister Yediyurappa must also disapprove the proposal and should resist it from now itself. Or else, the GST noose will haunt us," he said.

The former CM noted that cess on fuel was one of the major sources of revenue for the states, hit by inadequate distribution of GST compensation and devolution of funds.

"Thousands of crores are pending from the Centre. State governments are tired of asking for the arrears. The plight of the states will be miserable if petroleum revenue is handed over to the Centre," he added.