United Democratic Alliance (UDA) on Friday demanded for bringing petrol and diesel under Goods and Services Tax (GST) to ensure uniformity in automobile fuel across the country.
It was stated by United Democratic Alliance (UDA) Convenor, Rajiv Mahajan in a statement issued here on Friday. Mahajan further said that when GST was introduced on July 1, 2017, petrol and diesel were kept out of its purview given revenue dependence of State Governments on the sector. One of the main reasons for stimulus is to revive the demand by way of tax reductions.
Mahajan expressed apprehension that increase in petroleum prices in Jammu would have a cascading impact on trade industry and transport. “Industry is already reeling under huge pressure due to the daunting impact of pandemic COVID-19, and increase in fuel prices at this juncture will make goods and services dearer and thereby severely impacting the revival process of industrial activities in coming times. Increase in fuel prices will have a trickle-down effect resulting in rising costs of transportation, building-up inflationary pressures amid an environment, where income generation is already suffering due to COVID-19 pandemic,” said Mahajan, urging the Government to rollback the hike at the earliest.
The signatories to the statement included Lt Gen (Retd) Pradeep Singh Mehta Principal Advisor, Manish Sahni Former Convener, IG (Retd) Sudhir Dogra General Secretary, Co- Conveners Col (Retd) S S Pathania, Com (Retd) Bhushan Devan, Col (Retd) PS Jamwal, Col J P Singh, (Retd DC) Vijay Sharma, (Retd DC) M L Sharma, Er V K Gupta (Retd SE), R K Khajuria (Retd ETO), Varinder Gupta (Retd Special Secretary), R C Puri (Retd KAS), Krishan Manhas, Satish Ponshi, Kulbir Singh Slathia, Bharat Bhushan Gupta, Gajan Singh Khajuria and others.