Andhra reports stated that amidst reports that natural gas would brought under the GST, Andhra Pradesh state government made a strong statement that it opposes the move to bring natural gas within the ambit of the GST. Meanwhile it said that the proposal would further make the state lose substantial revenue.
Moreover when referring to several news reports, AP Finance Minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu said the proposal was not even circulated to the states. Furthermore in a statement, Yanamala also opposed any move to include any petroleum product under GST. He said issuing of statements by the officials of the council on such sensitive policy issues cannot be accepted. Ramakrishnudu said Andhra Pradesh secured revenue of Rs 523 crore on sale of natural gas in 2017-18.
The state finance minister added "The state
has already lost autonomy in raising fiscal resources with the introduction of
GST. Presently, inclusion of natural gas in GST will further affect the revenue
position. For this reason, we oppose inclusion of other petroleum products also
under GST”. Moreover Yanamala claimed that the group of ministers, constituted
by the GST council to deliberate on various issues and make recommendations,
was issuing statements to the media before they were put up in the council.
