'Centre and State shall work cohesively to attain the set goals', Sitharaman chairs her first GST Council meet

New Delhi, June 21: Chairing her first GST Council meeting which headed taking crucial decisions on myriad proposals, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman moved up voicing that the GST Council had a quantum of work to do including simplification of GST Rules, rationalisation of GST rates and bring more items in the ambit of GST among others.

 

Heading the 35th GST Council Meeting, Sitharaman hailed Council’s tremendous work since it's inception in post-Independence era of the country.

The committee on Friday approved the reduction in GST rate from 18 per cent to 12 per cent on electric vehicles chargers. The proposal for GST rate cut has been sent to committee, where exemption is asked for in all the categories of electric vehicles operating in India.

 

Further, seeking cooperation of all the States and Union Territories to achieve aspirations of the people, FM Nirmala Sitharaman held pre-Budget consultations with state Finance Ministers where she assured full cooperation from her side to achieve the desired goals.

 

“No goals can be achieved if the States and the Centre do not work together in cohesion. The Centre has the responsibility of setting the direction of the economic growth and it is the responsibility of states to implement it in the field”, she said.

 

Other topics that were discussed during the GST meeting included tax evasion issue, extension of the tenure of the National Anti-profiteering Authority till 2020, electronic invoices system, the revenue position of states, the new return filing system, setting up an appellate tribunal for north-eastern states and another one for all Union Territories (UTs) and levy of GST on extra-neutral alcohol (ENA) used in manufacturing liquor for human consumption.