Lucknow prepares to host crucial 45th GST Council meet

Lucknow: The 45th meeting of the GST Council to be held on September 17 (Friday) at Hotel Taj (Vivanta), Lucknow, will be presided over by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. 

The meeting will also be attended by Union Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Choudhary.

It is expected that in the meeting important matters related to GST will be discussed in detail. UP Finance Minister Suresh Kumar Khanna said that a preparatory meeting of senior officers of Government of India and all the states will be held on 16th September at Hotel Taj Lucknow at 11:00 am. 

Khanna said he has extended his warm welcome to the Union Finance Minister, Union Minister of State for Finance, ministers of all the states and senior officers of all the states who will be participating in the meeting. He expressed hope that all the guests will have a pleasant stay in Lucknow.

Khanna informed that in the meeting of the 45th GST Council, Deputy Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh Chowna Main, Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar Raj Kishore Prasad, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, Gujarat Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister Nitin Bhai Patel, Haryana Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala, Manipur Deputy Chief Minister Yumnam Joy Kumar Singh and Tripura Deputy Chief Minister Jishnu Dev Verma will be participating.

The GST Council is likely to discuss bringing petrol, diesel and other petroleum products under its ambit. If the proposal is accepted, it will lead to a drastic reduction in central and state levies on petrol and diesel and bring down consumer prices of automobile fuels substantially.

The matter will be brought before the council for discussion and decision on September 17 as per the direction of the Kerala high court that had in June issued directions to decide on including petrol and diesel under the ambit of GST, two people aware of the development said.

At present, petrol is sold at ₹101.19 per litre and diesel at ₹88.62 in Delhi. In the national capital, central levies account for over 32% of petrol’s price, and state taxes (value-added tax or VAT) 23.07%. On diesel, central excise is over 35% while state taxes are more than 4%.

According to official data, the petroleum sector contributed ₹3,71,726 crore central excise revenue in 2020-21, and ₹2,02,937 crore state levies or value-added tax (VAT).