ET Awards: GST rate cut, slabs review in works, says Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman
Nirmala Sitharaman said India is close to taking a final call on reducing goods and services tax (GST) rates further and reviewing the levy’s slabs. The revenue neutral rate had dropped from 15.8% when GST was introduced in 2017, to 11.4% by 2023, she said at the 25th ET Awards for Corporate Excellence on Saturday.
“Let me dispel any (notion) that GST has made life costlier. Item by item, I would challenge anyone to tell me if there is any one item for which tax rate has gone up after introduction of GST… So, the clue is, it will come down even further,” she told an audience that represented the best of India Inc at the stately National Centre for the Performing Arts in Mumbai.
A group of ministers on GST rationalisation has been set up under Bihar deputy CM Samrat Chaudhary.
Sitharaman said India has to guard against the dumping of excess inventory by other countries, adding that signs of a surge in the inflows of goods are already visible. Analysts have cautioned against a spike in dumping in India in the aftermath of the US imposing additional tariffs on countries including China.
The minister said the government’s focus will be to ensure small and medium enterprises have access to inputs at affordable prices without being a victim of dumping. “These are the balancing acts we have to do,” she said.
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