Daily rise in petrol and diesel should make all petroleum products under GST. Instead of daily price-rise, hike should be in multiples of one rupee when needed. There should be a ban on production of diesel-cars where diesel is deliberately priced low despite being almost same procurement-price to give relief to public-transport and transportation.
Revenue-loss can be compensated by adopting two-tier GST rates of 10 and 30 percent normally except on super-luxury items presently attracting cess, abolishing all others including zero-rate GST-slab. Items of long-lasting use even including like TV-sets and fridges of all models should attract 30-percent slab. Instead of imposing cess, extra GST-rates in multiples of 100 should be there so that luxury items requiring cess may have extra-ordinary high GST-slabs.
Abolishing zero-rate slab may look to be bitter, but practically it will provide much more relief specially in service-sector where items or services presently under 12 and 18 percent will also come under 10-percent slab. Revenue-loss can and should be further compensated by abolishing system of Input-Tax-Credit on all aspects including manufacturing and service sector, retaining only for trade-channels. Malpractice of selling GST-invoices without selling goods for availing false Input-Tax-Credit specially by manufacturing-sector will thus be checked to large extent.
Such practical reforms should not get political hurdles for unnecessarily criticizing abolition of GST-rates below 12-percent including zero-percent.
MADHU AGRAWAL