Bringing petrol and diesel under GST will help consumers and oil companies

The consensus at the BusinessLine Knowledge Series webinar on Fuel Prices - How High is too High? that was moderated by Richa Mishra, Senior Associate Editor and Chief of Bureau-Delhi at the Hindu BusinessLine was bringing petrol and diesel under the GST regime is likely to help retail consumers, commercial entities and oil companies. 

The webinar included a series of questions directed at Director General, Petroleum Planning and Analysis, Praveen Khanooja, and about 68% of the webinar attendees felt that the current pricing of auto fuels was unfair. Khanooja said there had been several reforms implemented to deregulate auto fuel prices. Also attending the webinar was Mukesh Kumar Surana, Chairman and Managing Director of Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited, who threw light on the current pricing strategy for domestic oil companies. He stated that prices are moderated to a certain extent but are likely to be aligned with international pricing trends. 

While lowering the product price might not be feasible, reworking the tax structure could be a viable option. However, the webinar attendees felt that lower fuel prices could help boost economic recovery and that bringing petroleum products under GST will benefit the consumers across the value chain.