Value Added Tax

What’s the Real Story Behind High Petrol and Diesel Prices?

Vivek Kaul and Chintan Patel

(If the charts and the images are not loading, click here) 

Between 2014-15 and now, taxes imposed by the central government on petrol and diesel have increased by 217% and 607%, respectively. The central government tax on diesel has gone up from Rs 4.50 per litre in 2014-15 to Rs 31.80 per litre currently. This is the real story. 

Petrol and diesel prices are at an all-time high across the country. When it comes to petrol, prices have crossed the 100-rupee-per-litre mark, in many states. As expected, the central government is being questioned on this price rise.

On July 2, the finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that no discussions were underway to arrest the rising price of petrol and diesel. Her response to a question on rising prices of petrol and diesel was: “When the international price of crude oil is higher, we have to increase the prices and when the international price is lower, we have to decrease the prices here too. This is a market mechanism which is followed by oil marketing companies. We have given them the freedom.”

Citing the financial burden of the central government’s efforts on vaccine procurement, health infrastructure, and free food to the poor, she added that “state governments can give relief by reducing taxes or levies on petrol.”

In fact, a couple of months ago, she had referred to the taxation of fuels as a “dharamsankat”.  So, what is this dharamsankat that Sitharaman bemoans?

Also, a lot of WhatsApp forwards have been going around explaining why it is impossible for the Narendra Modi government to cut petrol and diesel prices. One reason being offered is that the government needs to repay oil bonds issued by the previous UPA government. As we had explained on an earlier occasion this isn’t true. It’s just propaganda, albeit excellently run.

In this piece, we take the story forward with the hope that it can tackle some of the WhatsApp propaganda around petrol and diesel prices that is currently on.

Price breakdown

In most situations in business, a product is sold at a price which includes the cost of manufacturing the product, the taxes that the company has paid in the process of manufacturing it and the profit margin that the company hopes to earn. Of course, the taxes aren’t a major portion of the overall price.

That’s not true for petrol and diesel in India. Taxes, as we shall see, form a significant part of the overall retail price. The retail price or the price we pay for petrol and diesel at the pump, is made up of four components – a) The price at which the dealer buys petrol and diesel from the oil marketing companies like Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum or one of the private companies. This price includes the cost of producing petrol and diesel and getting it to the pump where it is sold. It also includes the profit margin of these companies. b) The central government tax. c) The state government tax. d) Dealer commission.

Of the four components, the price at which the dealer buys petrol and diesel from the oil marketing company, is the biggest variable. It is tied to the price of international crude oil. If the price of oil goes up, as it has since April 2020, the price of petrol and diesel also go up. In April 2020, the average price of the Indian basket of crude oil had fallen to $19.9 per barrel.

In June 2021, it averaged at $71.98 per barrel. As of July 13, it had risen to $74.97 per barrel. This, as Sitharaman said, is the main reason for the increase in petrol and diesel prices in the recent past. We would like to say that this is not the reason, but a reason. We will explain the details as we go along.

India produces very little oil of its own. In fact, the overall import dependency in April and May this year was at 85.4%. We are heavily dependent on oil imports. Hence, if price of oil goes up internationally, the price of petrol and diesel also go up within the country.

Now getting back to the components of the retail price of petrol and diesel. The second component is the central government tax, which is the central excise duty. This is fixed and only changes when the government decides so. (The central excise duty has further components, but we won’t get into that in this piece).

Then comes the state government tax on petrol and diesel. Some states refer to it as sales tax and in some other states it is called the value added tax. This tax is over and above the central excise duty and varies from state to state.

The pumps through which petrol and diesel are retailed also need to make some money. They earn a dealer commission, which is also a part of the per litre retail price . Having said that, the dealer commission is a small fraction of the total price, and mostly inconsequential in affecting the final retail prices of petrol and diesel.

Let’s look at the retail price breakdown of petrol and diesel in Delhi as of  July 1, 2021. The following table shows us that.

 Table 1. Price breakdown of petrol and diesel
(in Rs per litre): July 1, 2021 (Delhi)

Source : https://hindustanpetroleum.com/documents/pdf/pb/petrol.pdf

Let’s consider the price of petrol and try and understand this structure in detail. The price charged to the dealer is Rs 39.33 per litre. On this the central government charges an excise duty of Rs 32.90 per litre. Then there is a dealer commission of Rs 3.82 per litre.

These three entries add up to Rs 76.05 per litre. On this price, the Delhi government charges a value added tax of 30%, which works out to Rs 22.82 per litre. This is added to Rs 76.05 per litre and it adds up to a retail selling price of Rs 98.87 per litre of petrol.

It is interesting to note, the value added tax of the state government is charged on Rs 76.05 per litre, which also includes a central excise duty of Rs 32.90 per litre. This means that when you and I buy petrol we are paying a tax on a tax.  This is true across the length and breadth of India and not just in Delhi.

Also, it is worth mentioning that the value added tax or the sales tax of the state governments is ad valorem, which means it is a certain proportion of the sum of the dealer price, central excise duty and dealer commission.

So, if the dealer price goes up or the central government decides to increase the excise duty, the state governments earn a higher tax per litre of petrol sold. What is true for petrol is also true for diesel, though the numbers change and so does the calculation accordingly.

Now let’s look at what proportion of the retail sales price do each of the four components form. Figure 1 and Figure 2 show that for petrol and diesel, respectively. The data is as of July 1.

Figure 1


Source : https://hindustanpetroleum.com/documents/pdf/pb/petrol.pdf

Figure 2

Source: https://hindustanpetroleum.com/documents/pdf/pb/petrol.pdf

Figure 1 and Figure 2 make for a very interesting reading. In case of petrol, the dealer price forms 39.8% of the retail price of petrol. The rest are largely taxes, imposed both by the central government and the state government. The taxes added up to 56.4% of the retail selling price of per litre of petrol in Delhi as of July 1.

Along similar lines, the dealer price makes for 46.8% of the retail price of diesel. The rest are largely taxes. Taxes amount to 141.7% of the dealer price for petrol and 107.3% of the dealer price for diesel. So, taxes form a significant portion of the price of petrol and diesel.

The interesting thing is that the central excise duty on petrol and diesel has been raised over the years. Up until early May 2020, the excise duty on petrol was Rs 22.98 per litre. It was raised to Rs 32.98 per litre. When it comes to diesel, the excise duty was raised by Rs 13 per litre, from Rs 18.83 per litre to Rs 31.83 per litre.

From February 2, 2021, the total excise duty on petrol and diesel has stood at Rs 32.90 per litre and Rs 31.80 per litre, respectively. Clearly, a significant proportion the increase in price of petrol and diesel over the last one year has been due to an increase in the excise duty charged by the central government. Hence, it’s not just about global oil prices going up, as Sitharaman would like us to believe.

In fact, in May last year, India had the distinction of being the highest taxer of auto fuels in the world, a whopping 69%.  Since then, the portion of petrol and diesel prices that goes towards taxes, to both the central government and the state governments, has come closer to 50%, although the retail price at the pump has increased. Irrespective of whether it is 69% or 50%, taxes on petrol and diesel in India are high. Has it always been like that, or is it a recent development?

Let’s examine. Figure 3 plots the breakdown of the retail price of petrol over the years in Delhi (We are not obsessed with Delhi. But regular data in the public domain is only available for Delhi, hence, limiting our choice). For the sake of avoiding visual clutter, we have considered only the price in the month of May every year. In fact, petrol prices change frequently, sometimes several times a month due to fluctuations in crude oil prices.

Also, the central excise duty has been hiked more than once during some years. Thus, the chart below does not capture every price point over the last eight years but is still a good representative of the overall trend.

Figure 3

Source: Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell

Now let’s try and understand this in detail. A look at the above chart tells us very clearly, the central government taxes on petrol have gone up over the years, from Rs 10.39 per litre in May 2014 to Rs 32.90 per litre in May 2021. This is a jump of around 217%. The state government value added tax in Delhi has also gone up from Rs 11.90 per litre to Rs 21.81 per litre, a jump of around 83%.

Clearly, taxes on petrol, more at the central government level than the level of state governments, have gone up over the years, and this has pushed up the retail selling price. Take a look at Figure 4 and Figure 5. They plot the proportion of each component in the retail selling price of petrol and diesel in May 2014 and May 2021, respectively.

Figure 4


Source: Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell

Figure 5


Source: Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell

As can be seen from Figure 4 and Figure 5, the price charged to the dealer, which was 66% of the retail selling price of Rs 71.41 per litre in May 2014, has since fallen to around 38% of the retail selling price of Rs 94.49 per litre in May 2021.

The central excise duty as a part of the retail selling price of petrol has jumped from 14.5% to 34.8%. This shows again that the increase in central excise duty has been a major reason for the increase in the price of petrol over the years. The increase in state government taxes have also played their role.

In fact, the dealer price of petrol in May 2014 was Rs 47.12 per litre in comparison to Rs 35.99 per litre in May 2021. Despite this, the retail selling price of petrol in May 2014 was at Rs 71.41 per litre, which was significantly lower than Rs 94.49 per litre in May 2021.

All that is true for petrol is also true for diesel. Figure 6 plots the price breakdown for diesel over the years. As can be clearly seen, the central government tax has gone up from Rs 4.50 per litre in May 2014 to Rs 31.80 per litre in May 2021, a jump of around 607%.

Meanwhile, the state government tax has almost doubled from Rs 6.61 per litre to Rs 12.50 per litre. When it comes to the dealer price for diesel, it was at Rs 44.98 per litre in May 2014 and at Rs 38.49 per litre in May 2021. Despite this, the retail selling price of diesel in May 2014 was at Rs 57.28 per litre, which was significantly lower than Rs 85.38 per litre in May 2021.

Figure 6


Source: Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell

Let’s take a look at some interesting insights that emerge from the data above:

1) The price paid to the dealer was the highest in 2014. Since then, the dealer prices have come down, although not in a linear fashion. This is primarily because the average price of the Indian basket of crude oil in May 2014 stood at $106.85 per barrel. The oil price has seen a largely downward trend since then.

2) There have been some ups and downs when it comes to the dealer price, with the lowest prices for both petrol and diesel recorded in 2020, when they were around half of the price in 2014. This was on account of the price of the Indian basket for crude falling to $30.61 per barrel during May 2020, the lowest in any May since May 2014. Compared to the lows of 2020, dealer prices have risen by over 60% which explains the recent price surge at the pump. As explained earlier, retail prices have also gone up due to a massive increase in the central excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 10 per litre and Rs 13 per litre, respectively, in early May 2020.

3) From 2014 to 2021, taxes imposed by the central government have increased by around 217% on petrol and around 607% on diesel. The bulk of these increases were over two periods – from 2014 to 2015, and from 2019 to 2020, either by co-incidence or by design, both these periods were immediately following Narendra Modi’s election victories.

4) The first round of hikes in central excise duty in 2014 was effectively done to capture the gains from the drop in crude oil prices. The average price of the Indian basket of crude oil in May 2014, the month in which Modi was elected the prime minister, had stood at $106.85 per barrel. By January 2016, it was down to $28.08 per barrel. Instead of passing on lower prices to the consumer, the government decided to bolster tax revenues when global oil prices fell. Thus, the end consumer did not see a price decrease from the fall in crude oil prices.

5) After that, from 2015 to 2019, the central government tinkered with the central excise duty with marginal increases or decreases to keep the retail price somewhat bounded. In fact, in October 2017 and October 2018, the excise rate on both petrol and diesel was cut by Rs 2/litre and Rs 1.50/litre, respectively, to counter the increasing oil prices. The 2019 general elections also likely influenced these cuts.

6) The next big hike in central excise was in early May 2020, again around the same time when global oil prices plummeted in the aftermath of the covid pandemic, when the duty on petrol was increased by Rs 10/litre and that on diesel by Rs 13/litre. The price of the Indian basket of crude averaged at $19.9 per barrel in April 2020. It has since risen to more than $70 per barrel. But with a rise in oil prices in 2021, the excise tax has not been reduced. Hence, a higher oil price and a higher excise duty have both contributed to the rise in pump prices of petrol and diesel.

7) The charts above are for Delhi. As explained earlier, each state has a different value added tax or sales tax when it comes to petrol and diesel and a slightly different trend over the last eight years. A detailed analysis of every state is outside the scope of this piece. Nevertheless, the broader point stays the same. A major reason for the increase in the retail selling price of petrol and diesel, and the fact that petrol is selling at more than Rs 100 per litre in many states, is because the central excise duty on petrol and diesel, has been increased majorly over the years. The increase in state government taxes have also had a small role to play.

Officials in both the central government and state governments know that the current petrol and diesel prices are placing a high burden on the end consumer. Both sense discontent brewing on this issue, which can ultimately cost at the ballots. So, both stand to gain, if taxes are cut and prices fall.

Crucially, both have the ability to reduce the retail price, by lowering their portion of the tax. But the way things are currently it seems that the state governments would prefer the central government reducing excise duty, and the central government would prefer the state governments reducing the sales tax or the value added tax.

Given that both sides are standing firm, the consumer has ended up teary-eyed. Also, as we have seen, the central government taxes on petrol and diesel have gone up significantly more than the state taxes. Clearly, the ball is in the central government’s court.

To add more intrigue to the petrol and diesel tax saga, there is one other thing to consider. A part of the central excise duty is shared with the states. This part is referred to as the divisible pool. Much of the increase in central excise since May 2014 has been in the form of surcharge and cess, which are not shared with the states. We have discussed this in detail in an earlier piece.

As of 2021, only Rs 1.40 of Rs 32.90 collected through the central excise duty on per litre of petrol, and only Rs 1.80 of the Rs 31.80 collected through the central excise on per litre of diesel, goes to the divisible pool.

Since the states get 42% of the revenue from the divisible pool, they end up getting 59 paisa per litre which is a mere 1.8% of excise duty collected by the central government on per litre of petrol.  For diesel, the states’ share comes to 76 paisa per litre amounting to 2.4% of the central excise duty per litre of diesel.

Given that the central government has employed such a strategy of actively undercutting states’ revenue from the central excise duty collections on petrol and diesel, it is a tad optimistic to expect the state governments to be enthusiastic about a coordinated approach, where both the central government and the state governments reduce the taxes they collect on sale of petrol and diesel at the same time.

Central government dependence   

In the last couple of years, the central government has become overly dependent on the central excise duty that it earns on the sale of petroleum products (primarily petrol and diesel). In 2014-15, the central government had earned Rs 99,068 crore from this. This jumped to Rs 2.23 lakh crore in 2019-20. It jumped to an all-time high of Rs 3.72 lakh crore in 2020-21.

This compensates for the massive fall in corporate tax or the income tax paid on corporate profit. This had stood at Rs 6.64 lakh crore in 2018-19. In 2020-21, it fell to Rs 4.57 lakh crore, a drop of about a third. This happened because in September 2019, the government reduced the base rate of corporate tax to 22%, from the earlier 30%. Hence, the collections of corporate taxes fell in 2020-21, despite the massive increase in profits of listed corporates during the year.

Over and above this, a badly designed and run Goods and Services Tax has not brought in the amount of taxes it was expected to. As the Fifteenth Finance Commission Report put it: “In terms of government finances, [GST] was expected to improve the overall tax-GDP ratio in the medium term and lead to higher Union [central government] transfers to States.” But that hasn’t happened. This can clearly be seen in Figure 7.

Figure 7


Source: Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy.

There is no free lunch in economics. The costs of a fall in corporate tax collections and weaker than expected GST collections, are being borne by everyone who buys petrol and diesel in a direct way. In an indirect way, we are paying for it in the form of higher inflation.

This is why the central government cannot reduce excise duty on petrol and diesel. Their finances have become too reliant on the revenue generated by the excise duty on petrol and diesel.

The economy was already on weak footing when Covid hit. The pandemic triggered a massive reduction of economic activity – one that is still on going, which has reduced tax inflow from other sources. The fact that corporate income tax was cut hasn’t helped either.

Additionally, there are more financial demands on the government than the past. The government needs money to finance pandemic-induced expenses like vaccine procurement and improving healthcare delivery. All this could have been easily done if corporate income tax rates hadn’t been cut or GST had been launched and run properly.

In such an environment of decreased income, the government is unable to wean itself off  taxes it earns from the sale of petrol and diesel. In many ways this dilemma is self-imposed since this government’s original sin was its economic mismanagement before the pandemic hit. You construct a house poorly and a storm hits. Now you are drenched due to a leaking roof. Is the storm the only one to blame?

Good policy, bad policy

As a thought experiment, say the central government reduces the central excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 10/litre. The immediate knock-on effect will be one of the following three scenarios. One, the government will have to scale back spending to make up for the loss in revenue. Two, the government will increase a different tax (as we said earlier there is no free lunch). Three, the government takes on a higher fiscal deficit (the difference between its annual expenditure and revenue).

Given this, the government has decided to continue with the high central excise duty on petrol and diesel. But is that the best option available?

High prices of petrol and diesel cause misgivings in a large section of the electorate, especially the middle class and the poor. That the Modi government is willing to risk this public sentiment speaks to their confidence in assuaging voters through other avenues. While it’s for the government to figure out its politics on this issue, the economics of the decision though, can be debated.

As always, the economic argument on general topic of taxation of petrol and diesel is nuanced.  An increase in taxes on petrol and diesel (such as the central excise) has two negative economic impacts.

One, this leads to a higher inflation. Most goods need to be transported from where they are produced to where they are consumed, and the primary mode of transport of goods in India are trucks that run on diesel. So, when diesel prices go up, due to higher taxes or otherwise, price of most goods also increase. Inflation has its impact on consumption and that in turn slows down economic growth.

Two, a higher tax on petrol and diesel, is the opposite of a consumer stimulus i.e., it takes money out of people’s pockets. Higher fuel costs mean lesser disposable funds for other purchases, which then depresses demand for goods and services.  

One criticism of India’s economic response to the covid pandemic has been that most of the government actions have been directed towards suppliers and firms, instead of the consumers. Most developed nations have put money directly in the hands of citizens  to revive consumer demand.

Whether India’s fiscal situation allows for a meaningful stimulus is debatable, but surely a negative stimulus (which is what the higher central excise duty on petrol and diesel works out to), cannot help with the economic revival.

Given that the government has been addicted to taxes it earns from petrol and diesel, for more than a few years now, it has gone slow on disinvestment of its stakes in public sector companies as well as the land owned by them. The revenue that could potentially come in from here, could reduce the dependence on taxes coming in from the retail sale of petrol and diesel. But that hasn’t happened.

On the flip side, there is an argument in favour of higher taxes on petrol and diesel, related to environmental impact. Given the negative impact of fossil fuels on carbon emissions and global warming, higher taxes on petrol and diesel could/should in theory dampen their demand. However, in India, this line of reasoning is not very convincing.

Figure 8 shows the annual consumption of demand of petrol and diesel.

Figure 8

Source: Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell

Other than 2020-21 which was affected by lockdowns and curfews, the demand for petrol and diesel has increased each year, despite changing prices. Moreover, diesel makes up for most of the fuel consumption, and it is particularly insensitive to price fluctuations since it is used for commercial transport and so the cost is passed on to the end consumer.

As RS Sharma, former chairman of ONGC said in 2018: “Demand for diesel is typically inelastic as most of the rise in price is borne by the end consumer and can be seen to directly impact inflation.”

Of course, one can’t rule out the possibility that if petrol and diesel prices had not increased due to a higher central excise duty, the demand would have grown even more. One cannot even quantify how the increased prices may incentivise adoption of alternative sources of energy, electric vehicles and such.

The trade-off between economic development and environmental stewardship is the ultimate dharamsankat of our times and taxes on petrol and diesel do lie in that realm. But we doubt that is on Sitharaman’s mind.

PS: This article can become the WhatsApp forward to beat all WhatsApp forwards. So, what are you waiting for? Press the share button.

Why the Price of Petrol is Racing Towards Rs 100 Per Litre

If there are two things that get people of this country interested in economics, they are the price of onion and the price of petrol racing towards Rs 100 per kg or litre, respectively.  Currently, the price of petrol is racing towards Rs 100 per litre in large parts of the country. In fact, in some parts, it has already crossed that level.

So, what’s happening here? Let’s take a look at this pointwise.

1) Take a look at the following chart, which plots the average price of the Indian basket of crude oil since January 2020.

Source: Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell.
*February price as of February 18, 2021.

What does the above chart tell us? It tells us that as the covid pandemic spread, the price of oil fell, falling to a low of $19.90 per barrel in April 2020. It has been rising since then. One simple reason for this lies in the fact that as the global economy recovers, its energy needs will go up accordingly and hence, the price of oil is going up as well.

The other reason has been the massive amount of money that Western central banks have printed through the beginning of 2020. Oil, as it had post 2008, has emerged as a hard asset of investment for many institutional and high-networth investors, leading to an increase in its price. As of February 18, the price of the Indian basket of crude oil stood at $63.65 per barrel, having risen by close to 220% during the current financial year.

2) Now let’s look at the average price of the Indian basket of crude oil over the years.

Source: Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell.
* Up to January 2021.

What does the above chart tell us? It tells us that the Narendra Modi government has been very lucky when it comes to the price of oil, with the oil price on the whole being much lower than it was between 2009 and 2014.

In May 2014, when Modi took over as the prime minister, the price of oil averaged at $106.85 per barrel. By January 2016, it had fallen to $28.08 per barrel.

Even after that, the price of oil hasn’t touched the high levels it did before 2014, in the post financial crisis years, which also happened to be the second term of the Manmohan Singh government.

A major reason for this lies in the discovery of shale oil in the United States. In fact, as Daniel Yergin writes in The New Map – Energy, Climate and the Clash of Nations: “In the autumn of 2018, though it was hardly noted at the time, something historic occurred: The United States overtook both Russia and Saudi Arabia to regain its rank as the world’s largest oil producer, a position it had lost more than four decades earlier.” This has been a major reason in the lower price of oil over a longer term.

The question that then crops up is why hasn’t petrol price in India seen low levels? The answer lies in the fact that between 2014 and 2021, the taxes on petrol, in particular central government taxes have gone up dramatically.

In short, the central government has captured a bulk of the fall in oil prices. Now when the oil price has gone up over the course of this financial year, the high-price of petrol has started to pinch.

3) Take a look at the following table. It plots the price of petrol in Delhi as of February 16, 2021 and in March 2014.

Source: https://iocl.com/uploads/priceBuildup/PriceBuildup_petrol_Delhi_as_on_16_Feb-2021.pdf
and https://www.ppac.gov.in/WriteReadData/Reports/201409231239065062686Snapshot_IOGD_MAR.pdf.

The above table makes for a very interesting reading. As of February 16, the price of petrol charged to dealers was Rs 32.1. Over and above this, the central government charged an excise duty of Rs 32.90 per litre on petrol. Add to this a dealer commission of Rs 3.68 per litre, and we are looking at a total of Rs 68.68 per litre.

On this the Delhi state government charged a value added tax of 30% or Rs 20.61 per litre. This leads to a retail price of petrol of Rs 89.29 per litre. Given that the state government charges a tax in percentage terms, the higher the price of petrol goes, the more tax the state government earns. The vice versa is also true.

Let’s compare this to how things were in March 2014. The price of petrol charged to dealers was Rs 47.13 per litre, much lower than it is today. On this, the central government’s tax amounted to Rs 10.38 per litre. The dealer commission was Rs 2 per litre.

Adding all of this up, we got a total of Rs 59.51 per litre. On this, the Delhi state government charged a value added tax of 20%, which amounted to Rs 11.9 per litre and a retail selling price of petrol of Rs 71.41 per litre. Interestingly, the state government’s tax was more than that of the central government at that point of time.

4) The above calculations explain almost everything. In March 2014, the price of petrol at the dealer level was higher than it is now, but the retail selling price was lower. Both the central government and the state government have raised taxes since then.

The total taxes as a percentage of dealer price now works out to 167% of the dealer price. In March 2014, they were at 47.3%. It is these high taxes which also explain why petrol prices in India are higher than in many other countries.

Of course, a bulk of this raise has come due to a rise in taxes charged by the central government. As mentioned earlier, the central government has captured a bulk of the fall in price of oil.

5) The calculation shown here will vary from state to state, depending on the value added tax or sales tax charged by the state government and the price at which petrol is sold to the dealers. States which charge a higher value added tax than Delhi will see the price of petrol reaching Rs 100 per litre faster than Delhi, if the price of oil continues to rise.

6) Of course, the governments can bring down the price of petrol by cutting taxes. In fact, four state governments have cut taxes providing some relief to oil consumers. But any substantial relief can be provided only by the central government. The trouble is that tax collections have fallen this year. Only the collection of excise duty has gone up by 54% to Rs 2.39 lakh crore, thanks to the higher excise duty charged on petrol and diesel.

The interesting thing is that the excise duty earned from the petroleum sector has jumped from Rs 99,068 crore in 2014-15 to Rs 2.23 lakh crore in 2019-20. The government has become addicted to easy revenue from taxing petrol and diesel. This year its earnings will be even higher than in 2019-20.

7) The central government also fears that if it cuts the excise duty on petrol and diesel, the state governments can step in and increase their value added tax, given that like the centre, they are also struggling to earn taxes this year.

Also, what needs to be kept in mind here is that the central government doesn’t share a good bit of what it earns through the excise duty on petrol and diesel with the states. This is because a bulk of the excise duty is charged in the form of a cess, which the central government does not need to share with the states.

Let’s take the overall excise duty of Rs 32.90 per litre of petrol currently. Of this, the basic excise duty is Rs 1.40 per litre and the special additional excise duty is at Rs 11 per litre. The road and infrastructure cess is at Rs 18 per litre (also referred to as additional excise duty) and the agriculture and infrastructure development cess is at Rs 2.50 litre. Clearly, the cess has a heavier weight in the overall excise duty.

8) One reason offered for the high price of petrol is low atmanirbharta or that as a country we have to import more and more oil than we did in the past. In 2011-12, the import dependency was 75.9%. This jumped to 77.6% in 2013-14 and has been rising since. In April to December 2020, this has jumped to 85%.

The explanation offered on this has been that oil companies haven’t carried out enough exploration activities in the past. Let’s take a look at the numbers of ONGC, the government’s biggest oil production company (or upstream oil company, as it is technically referred to).

The total amount of money spent by the company on digging exploratory wells in 2019-20 stood at Rs 4,330.6 crore. This had stood at Rs 11,687.2 crore in 2013-14. Over the years, the amount of money spent by ONGC on exploration has come down dramatically. This explains to some extent why the crude oil production in India has fallen from 37.8 million tonnes in 2013-14 to 30.5 million tonnes in 2019-20, leading to a higher import dependency.

Of course, not all exploration leads to discovery of oil, nevertheless, at the same time unless you explore, how do you find oil.

The reason why ONGC’s spending on exploration has fallen is primarily because the company has taken on a whole lot of debt over the past few years to finance the acquisition of HPCL and a majority stake in Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation’s (GSPC) KG Basin gas block. The money that ONGC borrowed to finance the purchase of HPCL from the government was used by the government to finance the fiscal deficit. Fiscal deficit is the difference between what a company earns and what it spends.

The borrowing has led to the finance costs of the company going up from Rs 0.4 crore in 2013-14 to Rs 2,823.7 crore in 2019-20. The cash reserves of the company are down to Rs 968.2 crore as of March 2020 from Rs 10,798.9 crore as of March 2014.

All this explains why the price of petrol is racing towards Rs 100 per litre. At the cost of sounding very very very cliched, there is no free lunch in economics. Somebody’s got to bear the cost.

It will be interesting to see if the central government continues to hold on to the high excise duty on petrol and diesel (whatever I have said for petrol applies for diesel as well, with a different set of numbers) leading to  a high petrol and diesel price and lets these high rates feed into inflation in the process.

Keep watching this space.

Why Indians Pay Such a High Price for Petrol and Diesel

At the end of every month, the Controller General of Accounts (CGA) declares the revenue and the expenses of the central government up until the last month. Hence, on September 30, the CGA declared the revenue and the expenses of the central government between April 1 and August 31.

Take a look at the following chart. It plots the decrease in gross tax revenue between April and August 2020 in comparison to the same period in 2019. The major taxes collected by the central government are income tax that you and I pay, corporate tax (income tax paid by corporates), customs duties, central goods and services tax, goods and services tax compensation cess and excise duties.

They all fall down


Source: Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy.

As can be seen in the above chart, the collections of all taxes have come down. The gross tax revenue is down 23.7% to Rs 5.04 lakh crore. Only one tax and that is excise duty, has grown during the course of this year. The growth is a huge 32.05% to Rs 1 lakh crore.

Given the economic contraction this year, it is hardly surprising that tax collections have crashed. The question is how has the collection of excise duties increased by almost a third?

This is primarily because of the central government increasing the excise duty it charges on petrol and diesel. This has been done twice in 2020. First in March and then again in May.

The excise duty on petrol stood at Rs 19.98 per litre, when it was increased by Rs 3 per litre in March and then again by Rs 10 per litre in May and now stands at Rs 32.98 per litre. When it comes to diesel, the excise duty on it stood at Rs 15.83 per litre in March. It was increased by Rs 3 per litre in March and Rs 13 per litre in May.

Take a look at the following table. It provides the price build up of petrol in Delhi as of March 1 and as of October 1.

High and low.

Source: Indian Oil Corporation.

This table makes for a very interesting reading. Let’s first understand how the mathematics of this works out using the data as of October 1.

The price charged to dealers is Rs 25.68 per litre. On this, the central government charges an excise duty of Rs 32.98 per litre. There is a dealer commission of Rs 3.69 per litre. Adding the price charged to dealers (Rs 25.98), the excise duty (Rs 32.98) and the dealer commission (Rs 3.69), we get a price of Rs 62.35 per litre. On this the local Delhi government charges a value added tax of 30%. This works out to Rs 18.71 per litre in this case.

Adding the value added tax, we get the retail selling price of Rs 81.06 per litre. The maths for the price as of March 1, works similarly, the difference being in the numbers and the taxes.

In March, the price of Indian basket of crude oil was around $55 per barrel. The latest price of the Indian basket of crude oil is around $41 per barrel. This is reflected in the fact that the price charged to dealers as of October 1, stood at Rs 25.68 per litre, lower than the Rs 32.93 per litre charged in March.

Despite the higher price charged to dealers, the retail selling price of petrol in March was at Rs 71.71 per litre as against Rs 81.06 per litre in October. The price as of today is 13% higher than that in March.

What’s happening here? Let’s take a look at it pointwise.

1)  The total excise duty on petrol was at Rs 19.98 per litre in March. It has since gone up to Rs 32.98 per litre, Rs 13 per litre extra. This adds to the retail price.

2) The value added tax charged by the Delhi government has also increased from 27% to 30%. This also adds to the retail price though not as much as the increase in excise duties.

3) As of March 1, taxes amounted to Rs 35.23 per litre (excise duties + value added tax). This was against a price charged to dealers of Rs 32.93 per litre. Taxes amounted to 107% of the price charged to dealers.

As of October 1, taxes amount to Rs 51.69 per litre (excise duties + value added tax). This is against a price charged to dealers of Rs 25.68 per litre. Taxes now amount to 201% of the priced charged to dealers. This explains the higher retail price of petrol, despite the lower price charged to dealers, thanks to a lower oil price.

4) There is another way of looking at this data. In March, the total taxes amounted to around 49% of the retail price. In October, they amount to around 64% of the retail price. There has been a substantial increase in taxes.

5) The reason behind this increase is that the central government needs to meet its expenditure from somewhere. One point that often gets made on the social media is that the central government shares the increase in excise duties with the state governments. This isn’t totally true.

In May, the excise duty on petrol was hiked by Rs 10 per litre. Of this hike, the hike in road and infrastructure cess (additional excise duty) was Rs 8 per litre. Given that this is a cess, it need not be shared with the state governments. Hence, the bulk of the increase has stayed with the central government.

Now let’s take a look at diesel pointwise. In this case, I am taking diesel price in Delhi as of February 12. I couldn’t find the data for March 1. But the logic remains entirely the same.

1) The price of diesel as of February 12 was Rs 64.87 per litre. As of October 1, it stands at Rs 70.53 per litre. This despite lower oil prices.

2) The total excise duty on diesel back then was Rs 15.83 per litre. Currently, it stands at Rs 31.83 per litre. This has added to the price of diesel.

3) As of February 1, the price charged to dealers was Rs 36.98. The excise duty was Rs 15.83 per litre. The value added tax worked out to Rs 9.56 per litre. Hence, total taxes (excise duty + value added tax) worked out to Rs 25.39 per litre or around 69% of the price charged to dealers.

As of October 1, the excise duty is at Rs 31.83 per litre whereas the value added tax works out to Rs 10.37 per litre. Hence, total taxes work out to Rs 42.2 per litre or 164% of the price charged to dealers.

4) Total taxes amounted to 39% of the retail price in February. They now work out to 60%.

5) In May, the excise duty on diesel was hiked by Rs 13 per litre.  Of this hike, the hike in road and infrastructure cess (additional excise duty) was Rs 8 per litre. Given that this is a cess, it need not be shared with state governments. Hence, the bulk of the increase has stayed with the central government.

This explains why you and I are paying a higher amount per litre of petrol and diesel, despite oil prices being lower from the time the covid-pandemic struck. Also, it needs to be mentioned here that the consumption of petroleum products has fallen every month between April and August. The following chart plots the same.

The Great Fall

Source: http://164.100.24.220/loksabhaquestions/annex/174/AU1274.pdf

The interesting thing here is that thanks to a higher excise duty per litre of petrol and diesel, the collection of excise duties has risen, despite fall in consumption. Also, the other interesting bit here is that the consumption decline was at 8.4% in June. The situation has worsened since then.

In the last six years, the government hasn’t passed on the fall in the price of oil to the end consumer. In May 2014, when Narendra Modi took over as prime minister, the average price of  the Indian basket of crude oil during the month was $106.85 per barrel. The following chart plots the average price of the Indian basket of crude oil during a particular year, over the years.

Oil not on boil

Source: Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell. (https://www.ppac.gov.in/content/149_1_PricesPetroleum.aspx).  *Between April and August 2020.

The above chart makes for a very interesting reading. The average price of the Indian basket of crude oil in 2020-21 at $35.74 per barrel, has been the lowest since 2003-04. But that is clearly not reflected in the retail price of petrol and diesel, thanks to higher taxes, particularly higher excise duties.

A May 2020 report by the Press Trust of India points out: “The tax on petrol was Rs 9.48 per litre when the Modi government took office in 2014 and that on diesel was Rs 3.56 a litre.” The Modi government has captured a bulk of the fall in price of oil over the years. This is clearly reflected in the following chart, which plots the excise duty earned by the government from petroleum products.

Up, up and away. 

Source: Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell. (https://www.ppac.gov.in/content/149_1_PricesPetroleum.aspx). *Between April and June 2020.

As can be seen from the above chart, the excise duty earned from petrol and diesel has more than doubled over the years. While, the government has captured a bulk of the fall in oil prices, there are no guarantees that it will protect the consumer, if and when oil prices start to go up again.

Also, this is a very easy way for the government to collect revenue. It allows them to go slow on more difficult ways, like selling stakes in public sector enterprises (PSEs), selling the massive land owned by PSEs, shutting down the badly run PSEs, fixing the badly implemented goods and services tax system, and so on.

Take a look at the following chart which compares India’s petrol and diesel prices with that of our neighbouring countries.

The Indian high


Source: Websites of oil companies in these different countries. Nepal prices from local newspapers.
(I would like to thank Chintan Patel for putting this table together).
Prices as of October 1, 2020.

The above chart clearly shows that the petrol and diesel prices are the highest in India. And as they say, there is no free lunch in economics. You and I are paying this higher price, not just when we buy petrol and diesel directly, but also when we pay for almost every product that is produced somewhere and delivered to where we are.

What Mainstream Media DID NOT TELL YOU About GST

On August 3, 2016, the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of Indian Parliament, finally passed the 122nd Constitutional Amendment Bill for the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax(GST).

The passing of the Bill will be looked at as an important achievement for the Modi government. Also, credit must be given to the Modi government for reaching out to the opposition and getting almost everyone on board (excluding the AIADMK party) to get the Bill passed in the Rajya Sabha.

To be honest, I didn’t think this would happen and which is what I had said in my past pieces. Nevertheless, the Bill could have been passed during the period 2009-2014, if the Bhartiya Janata Party, which is in power right now, hadn’t opposed it as vehemently as it did.

The television and the print media have gone totally gaga about the whole thing. If you were watching any television channel after the GST Bill was passed on August 3, you would think, looking at the excitement of the anchors, that the Indian per capita income had just crossed that of the United States.

The excitement of the mainstream media notwithstanding there is a lot that remains to be done for a Goods and Services Tax to become a reality. Here is what needs to happen on the legislative front:

a) The Constitutional Amendment Bill will first go back to the Lok Sabha in order to clear the amendments made to it in the Rajya Sabha. The Lok Sabha had earlier passed the Bill in May 2015. This should be fairly straightforward given that the Bhartiya Janata Party led National Democratic Alliance has the required numbers in the lower house of the Indian Parliament.

b) After this is done, 15 or more states will have to ratify the Constitutional Amendment Bill.

c) Then 29 states and two union territories will have to pass their own GST Bills.

d) The Parliament will have to pass the actual GST Act and the interstate GST Act, which will specific the structure of the tax and enable its collection.

As of now this seems doable given that the two Acts that need to be passed by the Parliament need a simple majority of more than 50 per cent and not two-thirds majority as was the case with the GST Constitutional Amendment Bill. Nevertheless, this will take time and when things take time, it is always possible that political parties change their mind.

Further, the GST Constitutional Amendment Bill will lead to the creation of the GST Council comprising of the finance minister of the union government, who will be its Chairperson, as well as the finance ministers of state governments. The GST Council will essentially go about setting the tax rates.

Before we go any further, it is important to understand what GST exactly is, and how will it help improve India’s taxation system.

What is GST?

India currently has many indirect taxes. Indirect tax is essentially a tax on goods as well as services and not income or profits, for that matter. India currently has a plethora of indirect taxes both at the state government level as well as the union government level. The GST will subsume many of these taxes. It hopes to have one indirect tax for the whole nation and this will convert the country into one unified common market.

The GST or value added tax(VAT), as it is known in other parts of the world, is already present in large parts of the world, as can be seen from the following chart.

Goods and Services Tax in India

How do things stand in India as of now?

Up until now, the Constitution empowers the Union government to levy an excise duty on manufacturing. Let’s take the case of a company which manufactures cars. It needs to pay an excise duty to the union government on every car that it manufactures. The current rate of excise duty is 12.5 per cent on small cars. While, the company pays this tax to the government, it ultimately recovers it from the end consumer who buys the car.

The union government can also levy a customs duty on exports as well as imports. Further, the constitution allows, the Union government to levy a service tax on the supply of services, which the state governments can’t.

On the other hand, the State governments are allowed to levy a value added tax(VAT) or a sales tax on the sale of goods. This division has essentially led to a multiplicity of taxes.

As the Report of the Select Committee of the Rajya Sabha on the 122nd Amendment Bill of the Indian Constitution presented in July 2015 points out: “This exclusive division of fiscal powers has led to a multiplicity of indirect taxes in the country. In addition, central sales tax (CST) is levied on inter-State sale of goods by the Central Government, but collected and retained by the exporting States. Further, many States levy an entry tax on the entry of goods in local areas.”

This multiplicity of taxes has led to an inherently complicated indirect tax structure. As the Select Committee Report points out: “Firstly, there is no uniformity of tax rates and structure across States. Secondly, there is cascading of taxes due to ‘tax on tax’. No credit of excise duty and service tax paid at the stage of manufacture is available to the traders while paying the State level sales tax or VAT, and vice-versa. Further, no credit of State taxes paid in one State can be availed in other States. Hence, the prices of goods and services get artificially inflated to the extent of this ‘tax on tax’.”

Let’s understand this through an example

Let’s take the case of a dealer in one state buying goods from another state worth Rs 1,00,000. As the goods are moving from one state to another, on this, he has to pay a central sales tax of Rs 2,000 (2 per cent of Rs 1,00,000). His effective purchase price works out to Rs 1,02,000. On this he builds a margin of Rs 8,000 and his sales price works out to Rs 1,10,000.

When he sells this good, the state sales tax (or the value added tax) will be charged on Rs 1,10,000. If the tax rate is 5 per cent, then it will work out to Rs 5,500 (5 per cent of Rs 1,10,000). This means that the final price of the good would be Rs 1,15,500 (Rs 1,10,000 + Rs 5,500).

In this case, the state sales tax is also being paid on the central sales tax of Rs 2,000 that has already been paid. Central sales tax paid while purchasing goods from one state is not available as an input tax credit while selling the goods in another state. This leads to a cascading effect as tax on tax needs to paid. In this case the cascading effect is Rs 100 (5 per cent of Rs 2,000 of central sale tax). This ultimately gets built into the price of goods, making them more expensive than they should be.

What are the practical implications of this?

The cascading effect and the fact that the indirect taxes already paid in one state cannot be deducted while paying indirect taxes in another state makes many Indian businesses uncompetitive. The Report on theRevenue Neutral Rate and Structure of Rates for the Goods and Services Tax (GST) (or better known as the Arvind Subramanian Committee Report) has an excellent example.

As the report points out: “Consider a simple example, where intermediate goods produced in Maharashtra go to Andhra Pradesh for production of a final good which in turn is sold in Tamil Nadu. Effectively, the goods will face an additional tax of 4 per cent, which will reduce the competitiveness of the goods produced in Andhra Pradesh compared with goods that can be imported directly to say Chennai from South and East Asian sources.”

This basically happens because goods move between states twice and a 2 per cent central sales tax has to be paid each time. As mentioned earlier, tax paid in one state cannot be deducted while paying more indirect taxes in another state. This essentially means that a programme like Make in India cannot take off in many cases.

What are the other implications?

Other than central sales tax, state governments levy entry taxes as well. These can be like octroi in order to fund a local municipal body or otherwise. These taxes are collected while goods are entering the state or a town. This explains to a large extent why trucks in India move as slowly as they do. This essentially drives up logistical costs.

As the Subramanian Committee report points out: “One study suggests that, for example, in one day, trucks in India drive just one-third of the distance of trucks in the US (280 kms vs 800 kms). This raises direct costs (wages to drivers, passed on to firms), indirect costs (firms keeping larger inventory), and location choices (locating closer to suppliers/customers instead of lowest-cost location in terms of wages, rent, etc.). Further, only about 40 per cent of the total travel time is spent driving, check points and other official stoppages take up almost one-quarter of total travel time. Eliminating check point delays could keep trucks moving almost 6 hours more per day, equivalent to additional 164 kms per day – pulling India above global average and to the level of Brazil. So, logistics costs (broadly defined, and including firms’ estimates of lost sales) are higher than the wage bill or the cost of power, and 3-4 times the international benchmarks.”This will be possible if GST becomes the order of the day. The entry taxes will be subsumed under GST. This will lead to a dismantling of check posts at state borders and there will be no need for trucks to be held up.

Around 72 per cent of Indian freight moves through roads. Hence, eliminating check posts will lead to a faster movement of goods through the length and breadth of the country. Crisil Research estimates that “eliminating delays at check posts will yield additional savings of 0.4-0.8% of sales [of companies].”

While, the state governments are yet to agree to removal of border check posts, as and when this happens, it will be one of the bigger benefits of the GST. If it doesn’t, it will make GST a little less useful.

What will GST do about all this?

The GST will subsume multiple indirect taxes. Take a look at the following table. It points out the indirect taxes which will come under GST and indirect taxes which won’t.

GST TAX table

While GST plans to subsume many indirect taxes it does leave out several taxes as well. Hence, in that sense GST is not a one nation one tax that it is being made out to be.

How will GST work?

The GST will take the cascading effect of tax on taxes out of the equation. It will allow input tax credit for indirect taxes that have already been paid irrespective of what kind of indirect taxes have been paid and where they have been paid.

Take a look at the following table:

Basic Information/Kind of TaxManufacturerWholesalerRetailerTotal
A. Transactions (exclusive of tax)
1. Sales6008001,2002,600
2. Purchases06008001,400
3. Value-added (A1-A2)6002004001,200
B. VAT/GST
4. Tax on sales (10% of A1)6080120260
5. Tax on purchases (10% of A2)06080140
6. Net tax liability (B4-B5)602040120
C. RST
7. Tax on retail sales (10% of A1/R)––120120

Source: Professor Mukul Asher of the Lew Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore

There are three levels in the above table- the manufacturer, the wholesaler and the retailer. Let’s start with the manufacturer who sells a product for Rs 600 to a wholesaler. He does not purchase any inputs and makes everything in house (I know this is an unrealistic assumption, but it just keeps the Maths a little simple).

On this, the manufacturer pays a tax at the rate of 10% which amounts to Rs 60. The wholesaler sells the product for Rs 800. On this he has to pay a tax at the rate of 10 per cent. This amounts to Rs 80, but he also gets credit for Rs 60 indirect tax which the manufacturer has already paid. Hence, his tax outflow amounts to Rs 20.

The retailer finally sells the product for Rs 1,200. On this he pays tax at the rate of 10%. This amounts to Rs 120. But he gets credit for Rs 80 (Rs 60 paid by the manufacturer and Rs 20 paid by the wholesaler). Hence, he actually pays a tax of Rs 40. In this way, there is no cascading effect and all the tax that has already been paid is taken into account.

What this also tells us is that GST is a destination based tax and will finally accrue to the government once the final customer has bought the good or the service. This explains why parties that rule states like Bihar and Uttar Pradesh have come out in its support. While these states may not have a large industrial base, they do have consumers.

How does all this help?

The GST has a self-policing feature built into it. As the Subramanian Committee report points out: “To claim input tax credit, each dealer has an incentive to request documentation from the dealer behind him in the value-added/tax chain. Provided, the chain is not broken through wide ranging exemptions, especially on intermediate goods, this self-policing feature can work very powerfully in the GST.”

As Crisil Research points out: “Since input tax credit will be available for all taxes paid earlier in the value chain, firms would require evidence of compliance from the preceding links to claim set-offs. Thus, they would prefer sourcing inputs from compliant firms. This could increasingly bring unorganised players under the tax net, thereby reducing their price competitiveness vs. organized players.” This will be one of the biggest benefits from the GST over the long-term as it will make the entire system more transparent.

This could also bring down the price competitiveness of unorganised players as they will have to go legitimate in order to keep their business going. This will increase their costs and could help the more organised players, who already have a strong information technology infrastructure in place. The following table shows the proportion of unorganised players sector wise.

GST Sector table

But there might be some starting troubles on this front. The onus is on the customer to prove that all the suppliers in the value chain have paid their share of taxes, if he wants to take the input tax credit. This is as per Section 16(11)(c) of the Act. Basically what the section says is that if a supplier has not furnished proper returns or made the correct payment, then the customers of the supplier cannot avail of the input tax credit. And if it has been given, it will be reversed.

What will be the rate of tax?

This is something that the GST council headed by the finance minister needs to decide on. The Subramanian Committee has basically recommended four rates of taxes. A rate of 2 to 6 per cent for precious metals. A low rate on goods of 12 per cent. A standard rate on goods and services between 16.9 per cent to 18.9 per cent. And a high rate on goods at 40 per cent.

It is important that the GST council chooses a reasonable rate of tax. The unweighted OECD average rate for GST was 19.1 per cent in 2014 and 18.7 per cent in 2012. The recommendation of the Subramanian committee of a standard rate of 16.9 per cent to 18.9 per cent is in line with the OECD average.

Given the current rate of service tax is 15 per cent (including the cesses), a tax rate of 16.9-18.9 per cent is likely to make services expensive in the short run. This basically means that stuff on which you pay service tax (from your mobile phone bills to your credit card bills) is likely to become more expensive.

Crisil Research expects inflation as measured by the consumer price index is likely to go up by 60 basis points in the short-term. This will be in line with global evidence where inflation does go up in the short-term wherever good and services tax is actually implemented.

The trouble is that the rate of inflation is already looking up. Also, by the time GST becomes the order of the day, the next Lok Sabha elections will be around one to two years away. Will the government be willing to take on this risk? In the run up to the Lok Sabha elections the rate of inflation as measured by the consumer price index anyway goes up, as the government increases subsidy spends.

Why states like the idea of GST?

The state governments have come around to the idea of GST primarily because it allows them to tax services, which isn’t the case as of now. The GST being adopted has a dual structure with both the union government as well as the state governments levying a GST. Both the central GST and the state GST will be levied on every transaction of supply of goods and services, happening within a state. The taxes will not be levied on exempted goods and services.

As Crisil Research points out: “Multiple exemptions exist under the present tax system – the Centre has ~300 items exempted from central excise duty, while the States (together) have ~90 items exempted from VAT. These will be merged into a Final synchronized exemption list under the GST regime.”

It needs to be mentioned here that longer the list of exempted goods and services, higher the standard rate of GST will have to be. Given this, the government will have to limit exemptions if it wants a proper GST.

Other than central and state GST, there will be an interstate GST for transactions happening between states and it will be collected by the union government. The interstate GST will be roughly equal to the central GST plus the state GST. Input tax credit will be available on interstate GST. The following chart shows how the interstate GST will work.

IGST Model

What are the potential areas of conflict?

The former finance minister P Chidambaram of the Congress party has been talking about a standard GST rate of 18 per cent. The Kerala finance minister Thomas Isaac has remarked that capping the 18 per cent rate is too low. Other finance ministers have said the same thing.

A report in The Times of India suggests that Isaac has recommended a standard rate of 22-24 per cent, in order to ensure that states do not lose out on revenue. The situation as of now seems to suggest a standard rate of 20 per cent or more, will be arrived at.

To this Arvind Subramanian, chief economic adviser to the ministry finance said that a standard rate of “higher than 18-19% will stoke inflation”. This is primarily because the tax on services which is currently at 15 per cent will see a huge jump.

It remains to be seen what rate the GST council comprising of state finance ministers and the union finance minister come around to.

R Jagannathan writing for Firstpost makes this point in the context of small cars. An excise duty of 12.5 per cent is levied on small cars. Then there is the state level sales tax or value added tax of 12.5-14.5 per cent. The union budget this year added a one per cent infrastructure cess on cars. Over and above all this, some cities charge an octroi as well.

Hence, we are talking about an effective tax rate of around 28 per cent. If the standard rate of GST is 18-19 per cent then prices of small cars will come down. Crisil Research expects that the prices of small cars to come down by about 10 per cent.

But this is assuming that state finance ministers come around to the idea of 18 per cent standard rate of GST. As Jagannathan asks: “Why would any sensible finance minister at Centre or states reduce this to 18 percent?”This will continue to remain a tricky issue given that states need to subsume a whole host of taxes into the GST and are likely to demand (in fact they are already demanding) a standard rate of 20 per cent or more.

Also, there is the question of how will states compensate municipal corporations for taxes that are subsumed into the GST. Take the case of octroi. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation makes a lot of money through octroi. If GST were to become the order of the day, the octroi will be subsumed into it.

As R Jagannathan writes in a column on Huffington Post India: “The Mumbai Municipal Corporation’s Octroi collections annually are in the range of Rs7,000-8,000 crore. Will GST collections in Maharashtra be enough to finance this revenue loss?” This is a question worth asking.

Further, the GST system as it has been envisaged will need a solid information technology backbone. This information technology system will essentially lead to a lot of lower level bureaucracy, which runs India’s indirect tax system, becoming useless. (Think of all those employees manning check posts on state borders for one).

While, the government does not fire employees, a move to GST will lead to the income from corruption for the lower level bureaucracy coming down. And this is unlikely to go down well with them. They, as always, remain in a position to create problems.

Also, in a recent interaction with a few economists, I was told that the state level bureaucracy remains unprepared for implementing the GST. The fact that GST is a destination based tax and not an origin based one, which is one of its core points, remains unclear to many of them.

The fiscal deficit conundrum

For the first five years, the union government will compensate the states for the loss of revenue arising because of GST. This is the known unknown that can really create a problem. If the compensation demands from states are more than what is expected, the fiscal deficit of the central government can shoot up. Fiscal deficit is the difference between what a government earns and what it spends.

In this scenario, achieving the fiscal deficit target that finance minister Arun Jaitley has set for the government will become difficult. In the budget speech made in February 2015, Jaitley had said that the government will achieve a fiscal deficit of 3.5% of GDP in 2016-17; and 3% of GDP in 2017-18. Running up a higher fiscal deficit will have its own set of repercussions.

What are the advantages of GST?

As we have already seen GST is basically a self-policing system and makes the entire system more transparent. The Subramanian Committee report points out that the GST “is a stark example of a tax believed to facilitate enforcement through a built-in incentive structure that generates a third party reported paper trail on transactions between firms, which makes it harder to hide the transaction from the government.”

This basically ensures that the tax collected by the government goes up. As analysts Saurabh Mukherjea, Ritika Mankar Mukherjee and Sumit Shekhar of Ambit Capital point out: “Cross-country evidence suggests that the introduction of GST boosts the tax-to-GDP ratio by 1-2% points.” The analysts feel that GST will boost tax collection in India by bringing the unorganised sector which accounts for 59 per cent of India’s economy, under the purview of taxation.

While the rate of inflation is initially expected to go up, over the longer term, the inflation does come down as the cascading effect of indirect taxes is done away with and the cost of doing business comes down.

As the Ambit Cpital analysts point out: “Whilst the introduction of a single GST helped reduce inflation in New Zealand as well as Canada, inflation rose moderately in Australia and Thailand. However, the increase in inflation in Australia as well as Thailand was driven by unique factors such as domestic supply constraints. After adjusting for these factors, inflation in these two countries too was lower post GST implementation.”

And what about the GDP?

The finance minister Arun Jaitley has said in the past that GST is likely to push up the Indian GDP growth by 1 to 2 per cent. “This (GST) has the potential to push India’s GDP by one to two per cent,” Jaitley had said in April 2015. Jaitley’s statement was probably made on the basis of a December 2009 report brought out by National Council of Applied Economic Research(NCAER). In this report NCAER said that other things remaining the same the implementation of GST is likely to push up India’s GDP “somewhere within a range of 0.9-1.7%”.

The evidence on GST increasing GDP growth (or economic growth) is at best sketchy. As the Ambit Capital analysts point out: “Whilst it is difficult to assess the impact of GST on economic growth (as GDP growth is affected by a range of variables), cross-country evidence suggests that there is no clear evidence that the introduction of GST necessarily leads to higher GDP growth. Although the introduction of a single GST limits inefficiencies created by a heterogeneous taxation system, there is little evidence that it helps boost GDP growth rates.”

To conclude, there are many good things about the GST. Nevertheless, it is not a done deal yet and a few major issues remain, which will continue to test the Modi government in the days to come. Also, it is not the be all and end all, that the media is making it out to be. It is just one of the factors that will set India right in the years to come.

This column originally appeared in Vivek Kaul’s Diary on August 5, 2016

Postscript: I will be taking a break from writing the Diary and will be back after August 15. Here is wishing everybody a Happy Independence Day in advance.