Amid the rising popularity of cryptocurrency in India, the former deputy chief minister and finance minister of India’s most populous state Bihar, Sushil Kumar Modi, batted for a 50% tax on gains made from cryptocurrency in an interview with Forkast.

Modi, who is a member of the upper house of India’s parliament from the ruling party, said the country needs to discourage people from investing in cryptocurrencies and digital assets Like Bitcoin BTC/USD, Ethereum ETH/USD, and Dogecoin DOGE/USD.

“The government has not said in so many words — that crypto is like gambling, it is like lottery, it is like a casino, it is like horse racing — and in all these things the tax rates are very high,” Modi told Forkast.

The politican wants the Indian government to impose a 28% goods and services tax (GST) on the entire value of the cryptocurrency transaction, similar to the existing tax tier for gambling activities.

The Union Government of India, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is yet to announce a law regulating or tightening provisions for the use of cryptocurrency in India. Currently, an 18% GST or factory gate taxes are levied on services provided by crypto exchanges, categorizing them as financial services.

This came after India enforced a 30% tax on profits from crypto and digital assets transactions last week, effective April 1. As a result of the new law, the transaction volumes on Indian cryptocurrency exchanges plunged by almost 55% in the first two days after the law came into force.