Most of the recommendations of the GST Council made at its 47th meeting were against the interest of trade and industry and also consumers, said Tamil Nadu Agrofood Chamber president S. Rethinavelu.
ADVERTISEMENT
When the Chamber was clamouring for exemption for all essential food products, it came as a rude shock that the exemption granted hitherto on specified food items, grains, etc., when they were not branded or the right on the brand had been foregone, had now been withdrawn for pre-packaged and pre-labelled retail packs in terms of the Legal Metrology Act.
The increase in GST rates from 5% to 18% on wet grinder was a blow to MSME sector. When exemption was granted to essential branded food products if the rights on the brand had been foregone, the branded manufacturers, who were unable to face competition from the already tax-exempted unbranded producers, had withdrawn their brand names. Now they were also taxed. All these measures would increase prices of several commodities.
Mr. Rethinavelu said in spite of repeated representations to the GST Council and the Finance Ministry from several chambers of commerce across India, including Tamil Nadu Agrofood Chamber, to address the various points in implementation of the otherwise progressive taxation system, the Council had not done so and its only concentration was mobilisation of tax revenue.
Agrofood Chamber requested Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to form a Group of Ministers (GoM) to look into the difficulties in the implementation of GST, faced by the assesses, and submit its recommendations before the ensuing GST Council meeting to be held in Madurai in August.