New Delhi, Aug 30 (UNI) The Congress today said that eight Opposition-ruled states have extended support for reducing the number of GST rate slabs and lowering rates on essential goods, but with some key conditions.
These states are Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Kerala, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and West Bengal.
“These states have extended their support to the reduction in the number of GST rate slabs and a reduction in the rates themselves for items of mass consumption,” Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh shared on X.
“They have also called for a mechanism that ensures that the benefits of the rate cuts get passed on to consumers. Compensation to all states for a period of five years with 2024/25 as the base year, since their revenues are bound to be adversely impacted by the rate cuts and additional levies on ‘sin’ and luxury goods over and above the proposed 40% should be fully transferred to states. Today the Centre gets close to 17-18% of its revenue from various cesses that are not shared with the states,” Ramesh said.
He emphasized that these demands are perfectly legitimate and are supported by recent research papers published by the union Finance Ministry’s National Institute of Public Finance & Policy (NIPFP).
He also reiterated the Congress’ long-standing call for a “GST 2.0” that not only simplifies rate slabs but also overhauls compliance procedures, particularly for MSMEs.
“It has also been stressing the essentiality of ensuring that the interests of all states are fully protected. It hopes that the GST Council meeting scheduled for next week will not merely be a headline-grabbing exercise so typical of the Modi Govt, but will also advance the cause of genuine cooperative federalism in letter and spirit”, the Rajya Sabha MP said.
