Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman expressed the Centre's desire to bring petrol and diesel under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime, emphasizing that the final decision rests with the states.

"At the moment, the intention of the GST, as it was envisioned by former Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, is to include petrol and diesel," Sitharaman stated during a media briefing post-GST Council meeting, as reported by ANI. "It is up to the states to decide and come together to get petrol and diesel into GST. The intent of the Central Government is clear?we want the GST to include petrol and diesel."

Currently, petrol and diesel are not taxed under GST. Instead, these fuels, along with natural gas and aviation turbine fuel (ATF), are subject to VAT (Value-Added Tax), central excise duty, and central sales tax. This results in varying petrol and diesel prices across different states. The move to include these fuels under GST could potentially standardize prices nationwide and streamline the tax structure.