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Hyderabad News : Strongly objecting to the imposition of 18% GST on beedi leaves, the Telangana government sought an exemption on this at the 48th GST council meeting chaired by Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday.
It also asked for waiver of GST on the maintenance and repair works of minor irrigation tanks and reservoirs, custom milling and transport services under Public Distribution System (PDS).
“The Telangana government is opposing the GST on beedi leaves as it would impact the livelihood of poor and rural women in the state. The Centre has already been collecting 28% on beedis, which was earlier opposed by the state government,” Telangana finance minister T Harish Rao said at the meeting organised through video-conference.
At the meeting, Harish said over 25 lakh acres are being irrigated in the state through 46,000 minor irrigation water bodies and they need regular maintenance and repairs. He said if GST is imposed on the works, it would be a financial burden on state government.
He also sought exemption of GST on custom milling and transport services under PDS system. Since the works are for poor people, the government may have to spend more on tax as government is spending more on PDS.
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Sitharaman said the requests made by the state government on exemption would be sent to the GST fitment committee for examination. Hyderabad News
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