Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday said that the window for petroleum products to be brought into the GST gambit is already open, but it is up tp the states to agree and for the GST Council to decide.
“My predecessor had already kept the window open. Once the states agree, we will have the petroleum products also covered by GST. It is not so much of us (the Centre) not wanting it, it is the entire GST Council saying yes. They have to determine a rate and then we get it into the GST,” she said.
The Finance Minister was speaking at a post-Budget session at the PHD Chambers.
She also answered another question on edtech and said the government is committed to the cause of digitising education.
“The last Budget announced a digital university. This Budget has also announced Artificial Intelligence in three centres of excellence on digital and also making it available and to keep abreast of anything that is required in AI, to not be behind the curve, but to push ahead with the good advantage that India has with technology,” she said.
Sitharaman said from the government’s side, there is no hesitation. “We are pushing ahead. We see it as a very important and big component of future education,” she said, adding that there could be a gap, in terms of rural India not being able to afford tablets for each student.
She said the government had announced that if students were missing classes they could use any of the 200 dedicated channels in the Doordarshan bouquet, which will be in each language according to the state they are using it in. The channels are available to teach for each class, each subject. “We are committed and dedicated to the cause of digitising education, in the sense of using digital tools for education. That will continue,” she added.
Sitharaman in her opening remarks gave a gist of the 2023-24 Budget and said the target was to give momentum to growth. “I can go on with every paragraph of the Budget, but largely we are looking at sustaining growth through capital expenditure, not forgetting inclusion, not forgetting the necessity to keep our youth ready for job markets. But all this, with fiscal consolidation,” she said.
She said the fiscal consolidation for which the government had given a road map, they are completely aligning themselves with it. “If anything I must credit the entire ministry for ensuring that we were able to give a Budget which is fiscally responsible but very clear on the target that is growth has to be given the momentum. That is how I can summarise the Budget,” she said.