Petroleum Products Can Be Brought Under GST Once States Agree: Nirmala Sitharaman

Petroleum products can be part of GST and what is needed is the nod from the council members, said Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday. 

"The provision is already available for petroleum products to be brought into the GST. My predecessor had already made the window kept open. Once the states agree we will have the petroleum products also covered under GST. So, that's not so much us not doing it, and the entire (GST) council saying 'yes'," she said.

She made the remarks while participating in a post-Budget interactive session of the industry body, PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI), here in reply to a question.

"Not just yes...what they (council members) have to do is to determine a rate and once they tell me the rate, we get it into the GST," she added.

The 49th meeting of the GST Council is scheduled to be held in the national capital on February 18, to be chaired by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

Further, on the Budget for 2023-24, she said the continued push on infrastructure building through higher capex allocation is to keep India's economic growth momentum intact.

The central government is ensuring that the public expenditure continues to grow to have a desired multiplier effect on all the sectors, she said.

"The momentum on growth should not be relaxed or diluted, if anything, there should be greater ascent for that growth which we want to sustain at a good level," she added.

Capital investment outlay is being increased steeply for the third year in a row by 33 per cent to Rs 10 lakh crore, which would be 3.3 per cent of GDP. This will be almost three times the outlay in 2019-20.

The capex allocation has grown four times since 2015-16, from Rs 2.5 lakh crore to Rs 10 lakh crore (budget estimate for 2023-24).

"For the last 3-4 years, there has been a consistent emphasis on public capital expenditure, such as in last year's budget, and this year's budget has seen a 30 per cent increase in capital expenditure. This is the first time in many years that the capital expenditure has reached a double-digit amount, making it the clear focus of this budget," she added.

Speaking about her Budget speech, which was 87 minutes in duration, she said the idea was to keep it "clear and simple".

Later in her address, speaking about fiscal discipline, she said the government is aligned with its roadmap.

The fiscal deficit has steadily declined from 7.3 per cent in 2020-21 to 5.9 per cent budgeted for 2023-24. In 2022-23, it was pegged at 6.4 per cent.

In her Budget speech, she reiterated the government's intention to bring the fiscal deficit below 4.5 per cent of GDP by the financial year 2025-26.

"I must congratulate the entire ministry for ensuring that the budget which is fiscally responsible but very clear on the target that the growth has to be momentum," she added.