Travel pass: Pros may outweigh cons
IATA’s mobile application will allow travellers to store and manage certifications for Covid-19 tests or ...
With all eyes set on the next GST Council meet, expected to take place later this month, the clamour for reducing GST on branded packaged snacks and commonly-used food items is rising. The packaged food industry is seeking reduction in GST on ready-to-eat, ready-to-cook and instant food mixes.
In a letter sent to the Finance and Food Processing Ministries, industry chamber Assocham urged the Central government to cut GST on commonly-used food products such as pickles, chutneys, sauces and fruit drinks to 5 per cent from the current slab of 12 per cent.
“These food products are used by all segments of the society and are not elitist products and can be seen being served at road side stalls, street vendors, community festivals, places of pilgrimage, institutional messes, etc to common citizens,” the industry chamber pointed out.
With reports that the GST Council is mulling a proposal of merging the existing GST slabs, Assocham has also recommended a cautious approach so that food products that are currently attracting lower GST do not come under a higher slab.
“Due diligence should be done during this (merging of GST slabs). Otherwise, it may further create anomalies..as some products which initially were in lower slab, may come under higher slab with the difference being passed on to the consumers.
The processed food industry is already requesting to keep all its products at either 0 per cent or maximum 5 per cent.
If it is further increased, it will create huge gaps and further discourage new players from venturing into processing,” the letter added.
The industry chamber also said that the anomaly between higher tax on branded or packaged snack foods and lower tax on non-branded or unpackaged snack foods needs to be removed. It added that GST on branded snack foods such as namkeens, bhujias, fruit & vegetable chips (made of potato, banana, etc), should be reduced to 5 per cent from the current 12 per cent.
Any shift in consumption from branded to unbranded food products reduces revenues for the government and proves to be counter-productive and so all snack food products whether branded or non-branded should be placed at 5 per cent slab, the letter pointed out.
The packaged food industry has also raised concerns about GST rates levied on processes such as cutting, brining, syruping, pulping and crushing of fruits and vegetable which attracts either 5 per cent or 12 per cent GST. Assocham. in its letter. said these processes should be placed at 0 per cent GST,in a bid to encourage reduction of wastage of perishable fruits and vegetables.
IATA’s mobile application will allow travellers to store and manage certifications for Covid-19 tests or ...
A 2010 Act to regulate the medical sector flounders in implementation, even as healthcare remains ...
The scheme to boost local medtech manufacturing is timely, especially given the raging pandemic. But ...
Do pilots sleep on their job?
Fiscal stimulus, friendly monetary policy and firm commodity prices point towards normalcy, says the MD and ...
Price correction is a good opportunity for long-term investors to take the plunge
Q4 earnings, along with progress in controlling Covid-19 spread, will be in focus
Do keep in mind that premium may go up in case one of the members has a pre-existing condition
Inside Narayan Chandra Sinha’s universe house, metal and nature’s footprints are churned into an organic whole
It starts with the lack of new email messages: A sudden silence from my personal world. It’s a mellow Saturday ...
Love for food sparks an unusual friendship between a visitor and an auto driver in Hyderabad’s colourful lanes
In an age of falling female workforce participation, worsened by the Covid-19 pandemic, policy makers and ...
Monotype’s 2021 type trends report points to a return to hand and the familiar
As ‘ear-points’ between a company and a customer grow, we are witnessing a rise in audio assets
‘Desi Twitter challenger’ Koo on connecting like-minded folks
Coca-Cola has just introduced an oat milk line in the US under its Simply brand. Smart move, say industry ...
Three years after its inception, compliance with GST procedures remains a headache for exporters, job workers ...
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives of companies are altering the prospects for wooden toys of ...
Aequs Aerospace to create space for large-scale manufacture of toys at Koppal
And it has every reason to smile. Covid-19 has triggered a consumer shift towards branded products as ...
Please Email the Editor