Bring petrol, diesel under GST: ASSOCHAM

New Delhi: Industry body ASSOCHAM has pitched for bringing the automobile fuels under the ambit of Goods and Services Tax (GST) to provide relief to the consumers.  

"While cut in excise duty on petrol and diesel may provide temporary relief to the consumers, the sustainable solution lies in the automobile fuel coming under the Goods and Services Tax," ASSOCHAM Secretary General Mr D S Rawat said in a statement on Monday.

He said, rising crude prices coupled with weaker rupee with cascading impact on inflation pose a big challenge for the Indian macro picture and ironically, there is a little that can be done in the short term. 

In the long run, India needs to rework its energy security and ensure that petrol and diesel do not remain a huge revenue resource. Rather than being a revenue source for the government, the auto fuel should drive the economic growth, the statement said.(UNI)