Bring petrol, diesel under GST immediately: Congress

Criticising the Centre over the "relentless" rise in prices of petrol and diesel, former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram on Monday said that the Congress party demands petrol and diesel be brought under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) immediately.

Relentless rise in prices of petrol and diesel is not inevitable. Because, the price is built up by excessive taxes on petrol and diesel. If taxes are cut, prices will decline significantly. Congress demands that petrol and diesel be brought under GST immediately," Chidambaram tweeted.

"Centre blaming the States is a spurious argument. BJP forgets its boast that BJP is ruling 19 States. Centre and States must act together and bring petrol and diesel under GST," he added.

In the national capital, petrol is being sold Rs.0.31 higher at Rs 79.15 per litre, while diesel prices have been hiked by Rs.0.39 to a price of Rs 71.15 per litre.

In Mumbai, meanwhile, petrol price has breached the Rs 86 mark, and is being sold at Rs 86.56 per litre (increased by Rs 0.31 per litre) while diesel spurted to a new high of Rs 75.54 per litre (increase by Rs 0.44 per litre).

Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan had said that the rise in fuel prices in the country was "temporary," adding that a rise in global crude oil prices was responsible for the price surge in India.