Petroleum products to be out of GST for some time: Arvind Subramanian

Petroleum products, including petrol and diesel, will be kept out of the ambit of the pan-India goods and services tax (GST) regime for some time after its roll out, chief economic advisor Arvind Subramanian said on Sunday.

"Constitutionally petrol and other petroleum products will be within the GST system. But it would be out of the GST dispensation after its implementation for some time," he told reporters on the sidelines of an event in Kolkata.

"Even after GST is rolled out, petrol and other petroleum products would continue to be taxed in the present way both by the centre and states," Subramanian told reporters on the sidelines of an event organised by the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) in Kolkata.

The GST council would decide for how long these products would be out of the new taxation regime, he said.

On the roll-out of the GST, he said the finance ministry and the government were hoping the GST bill to be passed soon.

"All depends on when the Constitution amendment bill gets cleared," Subramanian said.

The government had, earlier this week, ruled out an immediate passage of the GST bill, currently stalled in the Rajya Sabha because the ruling NDA does not have the required numbers in the upper house of parliament.

It was passed by the Lok Sabha in May.

Finance minister Arun Jaitley on Sunday said Parliament would have to find alternate ways of approving legislation if the opposition party continued on its obstructionist mode.

Outlining the benefits of GST, Subramanian said that it would give the country a wider tax base and 'Make in India' drive would get an impetus.

"However, no single reform could determine the long-term growth of the country", he said.