Centre does not consider Telangana’s request for zero GST on handlooms

Union Minister of State for Textiles Darshana Jardosh said GST was introduced by the Government to rationalise multiple taxes on goods and services and bring uniformity and transparency in the taxation system.

Hyderabad: Despite repeated appeals by the Telangana government to scrap Goods and Services Tax (GST) on handlooms, the BJP-led union government is not considering the pleas to support the weaving community.

This was evident from the union government’s replies in Rajya Sabha. On Friday, Sushil Kumar Gupta asked whether the union government was considering to keep the weaving sector out of the GST purview. In reply, union Minister of State for Textiles Darshana Jardosh said GST was introduced by the Government to rationalise multiple taxes on goods and services and bring uniformity and transparency in the taxation system.

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Accordingly, it was made applicable to the textile sector, including handlooms. GST rates were prescribed on the recommendation of GST Council, which consists of Union Finance Minister and Ministers nominated by representative State Governments. In its 45th meeting, the GST Council made a recommendation for revising GST rates on textile products and related services from 5 per cent to 12 per cent to correct inverted duty structure in these goods and services. Subsequently, GST Council in its 46th meeting decided to defer the increase in GST rate on textile and textiles related job work services. Consequently, there has been no change in GST rate on garments and fabrics, the Minister added.

Considering the hardships faced by the textiles sector, especially weavers, the Telangana government has been urging the union government to scrap GST on handlooms. On August 27, Handlooms Minister KT Rama Rao also urged the Central Government to amend the rules and roll back GST on handlooms and Khadi.

This apart, the Minister had launched a post card campaign on October 22 demanding a rollback of the GST on handloom. Joining the campaign, several thousands of weavers had mailed hand written post cards to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting him to roll back the five per cent GST on handlooms.