State Environment Minister Gopal Rai said the Delhi government will seek reduction in GST rates of raw materials for manufacturing alternatives to single-use plastics, as the Center has banned them.
Announced after a round table meeting with stakeholders to discuss SUP Option, During the meeting, some stakeholders drew the minister’s attention to higher GST rates on raw materials for green alternatives.
Rai then said that the Delhi government would request the Center to reduce the GST rates on raw materials to manufacture alternatives to single-use plastics.
Moreover, the minister says that there is a lot of confusion among the public and even some government agencies regarding the items that come under the ban.
In view of this, if action is taken on the use of banned products, the Delhi government will issue a helpline number to register a complaint.
“We will conduct a training session for our enforcement teams so that there is no confusion while implementing the ban,” Rai said.
Rai also said that people think that ban on SUP items means ban on plastic carry bags and hence there is an urgent need to create awareness among the public.
The Delhi government is also working on a website which will have all the information related to banned SUP items, their substitutes and sources of raw material for manufacturing the substitutes.