44th GST Council Meet: Council decided to reduce GST on COVID items

ITANAGAR-   44th GST Council Meet: After daylong deliberations, the Council finally decided to reduce the GST rates on the specified items being used in Covid-19 relief and management till 30th September, 2021, Informed Arunachal Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein, who attended the meeting.

The 44th GST Council met under the Chairmanship of Union Finance & Corporate Affairs Minister Mrs Nirmala Sitharaman through video conferencing today.

Chowna Mein, Dy CM attended the meeting and he was accompanied by Tax & Excise Commissioner Kanki Darang and State Nodal Officer (GST) Tapas Dutta.

While speaking in the meeting Chowna Mein at the very outset thanked Prime Minister on behalf of the Govt of Arunachal Pradesh for the historic decision to  provide vaccines free of cost to all the States.

Thereafter, he stated that Arunachal Pradesh agrees in principle the recommendations of the Group of Ministers (GoM) as the GoM after threadbare discussion on each and every point arrived at its recommendations through consensus which is really commendable. They took careful note that our domestic producers and supply chains do not suffer and therefore did not recommended zero rating or lowering the rate to 0.1%.

He also appreciated the GoM decision to exempt GST on Amphotericin B and Tocilizumab as these are critical drugs, to reduce GST from 12% to 5% for other medicines like Remdesivir, Heparin and similar anti-coagulant medicines, reduction of GST rates on Medical Grade Oxygen, Oxygen Concentrators and Pulse Oximeters, including personal imports thereof from 12% to 5% and reduction of GST on medical devices, namely, ventilators, ventilator masks/canula/ helmet, BiPAP Machine and high flow nasal canula (HFNC) which are also critical for Covid-19 management to 5% till 31st August, 2021.

Chowna Mein also informed the august house that Arunachal Pradesh welcomes the recommendations of the GoM for reduction of GST rate on personal imports of concentrator, hand sanitizers, temperature check equipment, texting kits for D-dimer, IL-6, Ferritin, LDH, Gas/Electric/other Furnaces (incinerators) for use in Crematoriums and till 31st August, 2021 as a short term measure.