Fuel under GST would be death knell for states: Former Karnataka chief minister

Former CM says subjecting fuel to GST would dry Karnataka’s resources. Representation pic

Former Karnataka chief minister H D Kumaraswamy on Sunday said bringing petroleum products within the ambit of GST would be a death knell for the states. In a series of tweets in Kannada, the JD(S) second-in-command opposed the attempts to include fuel in GST and appealed to CM B S Yediyurappa not to allow this to happen as it would dry the state's resources.

"The Centre is systematically pushing petroleum products into the GST in the hope of lowering prices, using public outrage against the oil price hike as pretext. Subjecting petroleum products to GST would be a death knell for states," Kumaraswamy said.

He added that cess on petroleum products is one of the major sources of revenue for the states. The Centre levies excessive taxes and collects more revenue than the states. The former CM alleged that the Centre has not yet provided the compensation that the states had to receive after the GST was approved, he said. As thousands of crores have not been remitted by the centre, states have been begging for arrears, he added. "Now, if the petroleum revenue is handed over to the centre, the states' plight will be miserable," Kumaraswamy said.

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