GST Council meet tomorrow, to discuss rate rationalisation

Tribune News Service

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New Delhi, December 29

With even Gujarat ministers expressing reservation and the Surat textile industry planning to join the textile strike on Thursday, the Centre on Wednesday announced a meeting of the GST Council on December 31 to discuss, among other things, report of the panel of state ministers on rate rationalisation and merging 12 and 18 per cent slabs.

Gujarat BJP state president CR Paatil has joined discordant voices from Gujarat and elsewhere in the country, especially from the governments of West Bengal and Tamil Nadu which have sought a GST Council meeting to thrash out the rate rationalisation in case of textiles.

Paatil has accused “shadow powers” as behind the protests in several Gujarat cities, but said CM Bhupendra Patel will write a letter to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman requesting her not to revise the GST duty on textiles.

However, earlier this week, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs notified a uniform GST of 12 per cent on fabric, apparel and footwear to correct the inverted duty structure with the changed rates to come into effect from January 1.

The GST rate on apparel and footwear of any value will now be 12 per cent. Earlier, it was five per cent for sale value up to Rs 1,000 per piece for apparels and per pair for footwear.

Adviser to the West Bengal CM Amit Mitra had earlier said the raising of GST on manmade textiles would lead to the closure of one lakh units and 1.5 crore jobs.