Editorial photo #2060815 Human Interest

Subsidised LPG cylinder price to spike post GST in India

A Man carry Subsidised LPG cylinder during Subsidised LPG cylinder price to spike post GST on July 05,2017 in Kolkata,India.Domestic cooking gas price has been hiked by up to Rs 32 per cylinder - the steepest increase in six years - following implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST),Subsidised LPG rates have been increased to Rs 477.46 per 14.2-kg cylinder from Rs 446.65 in Delhi after GST was implemented from July 1. In the previous indirect tax regime where separate factory-gate duty and sales tax were levied, LPG attracted a zero or nil excise duty all over the country. VAT or sales tax was nil in Delhi as well as Chandigarh, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and some north-eastern states. It ranged from 1 per cent to 5 per cent in other states. However, under GST, which subsumed more than a dozen central and state levies, a 5 per cent tax was levied on subsidised LPG. This essentially meant that states where VAT was nil or less than 5 per cent, rates have gone up. Besides Delhi, subsidised LPG Price has been hiked by Rs 31.67 per cylinder to Rs 480.32 in Kolkata and Rs 31.41 in Chennai to Rs 465.56, according to information available from oil companies.In Mumbai, where a VAT of 3 per cent was applicable previously, the price has gone up by Rs 14.28 to Rs 491.25 per cylinder. (Photo by Debajyoti Chakraborty/NurPhoto)