Telangana not satisfied with GST cuts
Bidis in 28 percent slab bracket will affect lakhs of workers, says Etala Rajender.
Hyderabad: The reduction in tax rates of 66 items in the GST Council meeting held in New Delhi on Sunday has failed to satisfy the Telangana state government.
TS finance minister Etala Rajender, who took part in the meeting, expressed disappointment over the GST Council not considering the representations submitted by the TS government.
He said the state had sought tax rate reductions on 34 items, but the GST Council approved only two.“Only our representations on tax cuts on spectacles and entertainment industry were approved in today’s meeting. Our major representations on exempting tax on Mission Bhagiratha and irrigation projects were ignored. Our other crucial representations on lowering tax on hotels, granite industry, affordable housing, small scale industries, bidi industry etc. were not considered,” Mr Rajender said.
However, he said, the state government will try to secure a few more tax exemptions or reductions in the next meeting of the GST Council on June 18.
“We are upset at the outcome of the today’s GST Council meeting. But this is not the last meeting as was planned earlier. It was decided to meet again on June 18 to resolve pending issues. We will take up remaining issues in the next meeting,” Mr Rajender said.
He said that a booklet on behalf of TS government was presented to the GST Council making suggestions/ objections on GST. “Our CM has already written a letter to the Centre in this regard,” Mr Rajender said.
He also expressed concern over imposing higher 28 per cent GST on the bidi industry. “Lakhs of people in Telangana are dependent on bidi industry for livelihood. The Telangana government has been treating bidi workers as below poverty line category and giving Rs 1,000 pension per month, which is nowhere in the country. If the Centre increases GST on bidi industry, our efforts will not serve any purpose,” Mr Rajender said.
He said Telangana government has geared up for implementation of GST from July 1 but it wants all the pending issues to be resolved before that.
“If GST is delayed by even one or two months, there would not be any problem. We request the Centre to address all issues first and not implement GST in haste from July 1 which may trouble the common people,” Mr Rajender said.