Bhubaneswar: Odisha’s opposition BJD Thursday demanded complete GST exemption on kendu leaf and handloom products and asked the Centre to compensate the estimated revenue loss of Rs 1,000 crore per month towards the change in the goods and services tax slabs.
Addressing a press conference here, BJD senior vice presidents and former ministers Debi Prasad Mishra and Niranjan Pujari said that though the GST on handloom products has been reduced to 5 per cent from 18 per cent, it should be completely exempted for the larger interest of the tribal and dalit people engaged in the collection of the kendu leaf.
The BJD leaders said that they had been demanding complete GST exemption on Kendu leaves and handloom products since 2018, but it has not been accepted.
Previous chief minister Naveen Patnaik had written letters to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman requesting the same. However, that has not been accepted, they said.
Under the revised GST slab, the tax on Kendu leaves has been reduced from 18 per cent to per cent, but BJD argues that this reduction does not benefit the Kendu leaf collectors in any significant way. These tribal and poor workers involved in the Kendu leaf collection receive no added benefits from this tax change.
Pujari, a former finance minister, said that just like Kendu leaves, in the handloom sector, the BJD has consistently demanded GST exemption, keeping in mind the interests of weavers, especially in the handloom sector.
“While power looms are dominated by industrialists, handloom products are crafted by poor weavers who create various cotton and silk sarees. These artisans belong to the economically weaker sections, and to encourage and support them, a GST exemption has been a longstanding demand,” he said.
“Even now, 5 per cent GST is being levied on handloom products. Therefore, BJD is once again demanding complete GST exemption.
PTI
