WHY PETROL PRICES ARE A PRE-CURSOR TO A GST BATTLE

Another GST Battle Brewing on petrol prices

As the petrol, gas and diesel prices shoot up, the memes on the central government abound. Old tweets are dug up and replayed over and over again to showcase the irony of the situation and how the tables have turned.

In case you have not seen it, mimicry also has taken centre stage with 3 million views within a week of being uploaded.

As the hue and cry over petrol price rises, the central government has gone into a spin over drive with a variety of reasons to explain the price rise.

But the bottomline remains the same: Crude Barrels are currently ~$60 per barrel (159 litres) and the price is Rs. 100. When the price was $150 per barrel, the price was Rs. 70 in 2014.

To put it in bigger context, assuming a dollar conversion rate of 75 (march 9, Indian government is earning Rs. 5,00,000 (5 lakh) extra per barrel and yet wants people to believe that it is managing the situation.

Sinister Themes: Cripple state revenues through petrol prices

However one of the hallmarks of the current government is killing off of the federal structures. And petrol prices are the last stronghold of state independence. Three items have still propped up the state revenues: Petrol, tobacco and alcohol. All three are outside the centre's ambit.

And therein lies the devil in the details.

Now there are a bunch of experts who are advocating that petrol prices should be under GST and it will reduce the price of petrol.

While the calculations can be played around with, the fact of the matter remains that if the prices are reduced, then there will be a revenue loss to both the state and central governments. Yet, the central government wants to bring this under the ambit of GST.

Why so ?

Make states beg for money:

As we have seen that during the pandemic and even before that, Central government was not giving GST to the states and using it as a political tool to make states bend to their will.

On 17, Feb 2021, the central government had not paid close to 3 lakh crores to states and after some wrangling finally released 84000 crores.

However, the states were able to function despite the fact that they did not have any money because of the taxes received through diesel and petrol prices.

Post GST:

States which are already hamstrung will be weakened further and will have no autonomy left since they will have no money.

So it is very clear, that the idea of bringing GST for petrol is not out of benevolence for the common man, but to finish off any independence the states have and ensure that they become subservient to the central government.

Comments

The Depp trial is the best thing to happen to #MeToo Movement

Best impetus to #MeToo movement Look at NCBI data. ( link ) 52% men faced gender based violence Look at UK data. ( link ). More than 40% of the victims are male. The Johnny Depp case is a landmark case in more ways than one. It will help the #MeToo movement become what it originally was: A forum, a rallying cry for the victims of domestic abuse and way to speak up without being afraid of being shamed, ostracized or hunted. Origins of the movement. The #MeToo movement had started with a noble and just cause of giving voice to the women who were abused, survivors of violence and went through traumatic experiences. It tried to give the benefit of doubt to the women wherever possible, be empathetic and also protect them from subsequent abuse by their perpetrators. However, soon it had started morphing into a medieval witch hunt in which all women are to be believed irrespective of evidence since no woman would ever do such a thing. Right ? #BelieveAllWomen #Metoo is...

Dhurandhar: Why are left fundamentalists angry with the expression of creative freedom and freedom of speech ?

Conclusion: Since this is a long article, I will put the conclusion first. Feel free to read the reasoning after the conclusion. Dhurandhar forces you to think rationally and is slickly made. And this was something that left fundamentalists always felt was their domain: Thinking and well made propaganda films which pandered to western media and aligned with their colonial mindset. Dhurandhar breaks all traditional Bollywood tropes, is rough, is slick and confronts some tough truths. It doesn’t preach, it doesn’t seek validation, it doesn’t apologize. It is rooted, it is grounded and it is brilliant and most importantly it shows the other side of the coin. And this is what is triggering everyone ( and probably that the second Dhurandhar film will also be 1000 crore film) Dhurandhar: Indian cinema’s Oppenheimer Moment There are times when a movie stops being a story, a drama or just another creative expression. It gets elevated to cinema. A cult is created and this...

Galwan is India's Israel moment

Israel: surrounded but defiant On June 5, 1967, Israel was surrounded by enemies on all sides. Syria, Egypt and Jordan had launched a full scale war on Israel. Israel was all alone with no world aid forthcoming. The very future of this tiny but proud nation hung in balance. It was all alone and it was a real possibility that the entire nation of Israel might be decimated. We all know what happened. Israel emerged victorious against all odds. Galwan: India and China Galwan valley escalation doesn’t seem to be ending anytime soon. Claims and counter claims are flying with little way of verifying either India’s or China’s claims. While it is easy to dismiss Galwan as a one off transgression by China, it has been many years in the making. Nibbling away at Indian territory through dubious means, India has already (probably) lost a lot of territory to China through a variety of reasons. India, China, Pakistan and Nepal It is easy today to get carried away due to th...

golden phoenix

Search This Blog