The Kerala CM also sought PM’s immediate intervention on levying GST on essential commodities.
Thiruvananthapuram:
Amid mounting opposition to the imposition of Goods and Services Tax (GST) on essential commodities, the Kerala government on Tuesday said it has no intention of levying tax on items sold in packets of 1 or 2 kg by entities like Kudumbashree or small stores. Is.
State Finance Minister KN Balagopal told the Kerala Assembly that the decision could lead to a dispute with the central government but the state was not ready to compromise.
“At any rate, in Kerala we do not intend to tax items that are sold in packets of 1 or 2 kg or in smaller quantities by organizations like Kudumbashree or in small shops. Even if it causes problems with the Centre. be born,” said Mr. Balagopal told the assembly. We are not ready to compromise on this. We have already said this there.’ He said the state government has already written to the Center about its stand.
Balagopal said, “Yesterday also the CM wrote to him about these things. We do not intend to impose it on small traders and small shops. There can be no argument on this.”
Kerala government’s Kudumbashree, a women’s self-help group, is considered one of the largest women empowerment projects in the country. It is engaged in running small scale food processing units and various other ventures.
Mr Balagopal said that branded companies have to pay a tax of 5 per cent on packaged products, but if they mention in the packaging that they are not “claiming the brand” then it is not taxed.
“So they (Centre) have brought rules to nab such companies, but there is still some confusion on that,” he said.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s immediate intervention on the issue of levying GST on essential commodities, arguing that the move will have a serious impact on the common people.
Mr Vijayan pointed out that many small shopkeepers and millers already have goods ready for sale, so that customers can easily buy them off the shelf instead of spending time weighing and packing them.
In the letter, Mr Vijayan said that such pre-packing is a common practice in most of the retail outlets in Kerala and the present change will adversely affect the large number of common customers who come to these stores for their essential purchases.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)