Union FM Nirmala Sitharaman Chairs 43rd GST Council Meeting With Officials

The Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman conducted the 43rd Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council.  

The official announcement regarding the GST Council 43rd meeting was made on Twitter. On the 27th of May, the Union Finance Ministry took to Twitter and said, “Finance Minister Smt. @nsitharaman will chair the 43rd GST Council meeting via video conferencing at 11:00 AM in New Delhi.”

The GST Council meeting, scheduled on the 28th of May started at 11:00 A.M. Chaired by the Union Finance Minister, the GST Council through video conferencing in New Delhi.

This is the first meeting to be held in the past 7 months to discuss the GST issues and rates in the nation. The union Finance Ministry officials, the Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur, the Finance ministers of all the states and union territories (UTs,) senior officers from the Union Government and officials of respective states attended the meeting.

According to sources, during the meeting, Ms. Sitharaman would discuss economic conditions due to the Wuhan virus pandemic. She spoke about problems and provided solutions to bring the economy back on track.

Some of the major topics discussed during the GST meeting included the GST rate reduction on COVID-19 essentials like face masks, PPE kits, medicines, oxygen and others. The meeting also discussed the GST compensation issued to states for the fiscal year (FY) 2021.

Officials of the Council have also examined the need for raising the GST rate on fertilizers from 5% to 12% and discussed the rate for several other products. In the case of textiles, the officials have examined tax rate changes needed to correct anomalies. The idea behind the tax rate change is to limit the 5% tax to fewer items in the textile sector after getting political support in the Council.

Demands from states to give tax relief on medical supplies was also a major part of discussions today.

Meanwhile, the complete details of the 43rd GST Council meeting would be given briefly through a press conference. Nirmala Sitharaman would address the press conference at 7:00 P.M., on the 28th of May.

Stay tuned for further updates.