Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said that the Centre wants to bring prices of petrol and diesel within the ambit of the Goods & Services Tax (GST), a uniform tax regime introduced by the Centre with effect from the midnight of 30th June, 2017.

Compared to other countries in the globe, petrol and diesel are sold at a very high price in India; this has been the case for the past many years. Successive Congress and BJP Governments at the Centre were never serious in reducing these prices.

Posing a query in the Rajya Sabha during 'Question Hour' yesterday, senior Congress leader and former Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram asked his successor to explain the BJP-led Centre's stance on the possibility of bringing the prices of petrol and diesel within the ambit of the GST so that people can heave a huge sigh of relief.

Replying in his typical witty style, Jaitley said that he was happy that the query was posed by a person who was familiar with the issue. "It is indeed agonizing to note that the prices of petrol and diesel are very high in the country despite the price of crude oil coming down in the international market. The Congress-led UPA regime had kept the prices of petrol and diesel outside the GST's purview when it prepared the draft Bill.

"Now that the Congress is in the Opposition bench, it has changed its stance on the issue. The BJP-led Centre is very much willing to bring the prices of petrol and diesel within GST's ambit. A decision in this regard would be taken after consulting with all the State/UT Governments. A consensus alone can make this possible. Already, prices of petrol and diesel are reduced by tax reduction in States except the ones ruled by the Congress and its allies," Jaitley concluded.