Team Herald
PANJIM: While the implementation of the GST is getting the thumbs up in some quarters, many in the industry and the common man are also critical of the government for not including liquor and petroleum products.
The Opposition in Goa claims that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government is not bothered about the common people and alleges that the government is of capitalists.
Congress MLA Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco said the people would have got relief if petroleum products had been brought in the GST net. “This government is working in the interest of the corporates and not the people,” Lourenco said.
The Goa petrol dealers body claims that had petroleum products been brought under GST than taxes on fuel would have come down by 50 percent which would have indirectly reduced all other prices including that of essential commodities.
Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, in his speech during the passage of the Goa GST Bill had said that since petroleum products are excluded from GST, the “State government is planning to work out way to introduce the same under Goa GST as it is losing out a revenue of around Rs 350 crore”.
However, Commercial Taxes Commissioner Dipak Bandekar said the decision to include the products in GST is of GST Council. “The GST Council has all the powers. The committee is headed by the Union Finance Minister and State Ministers who hold the finance portfolio,” Bandekar said.
Goa Petrol Dealers Association President Paresh Joshi said that real benefits would have gone to the consumers if petroleum had been included in GST. “Prices would come down from 50 percent to 28 percent. No other products in the present regime are going to come down that much. The products are coming down in the range of 5 to 12 percent but no products are coming down by 50 percent.”
He said that the price of petrol would have gone to almost half and would result in lowering other products prices. “It would have brought much cheer in the lives of people. It would have been had more wonderful results on each and every product if diesel would have included in GST,” Joshi said.
