The finance minister of Kerala  K N Balagopal strongly opposed any move to bring petrol and diesel under the GST regime, saying it would further reduce revenue generation for the state and asserted that the Centre should reduce its levies on the two commodities to provide relief to the common people. The finance minister on Saturday pitched for extending the GST compensation beyond June next year as he highlighted that the state is already grappling with a significant revenue shortfall.

Addressing the media here, the minister said the fuel prices skyrocketed due to the huge increase of its cess by the Centre and if the Union government reduced the cess it would help in bringing down the prices of petrol and diesel. He said, if petrol and diesel were brought under the GST regime, the state would lose Rs 8,000 crore annually.

Kerala will be receiving GST (Goods and Services Tax) compensation of over Rs 13,000 crore and another one-time grant of over Rs 19,000 crore in the current fiscal ending March 2022, he noted. 

In case the GST compensation ends next year, then the state will face further revenue shortfall, he said and expressed hope that the compensation regime would be extended.

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