No GST on crematorium; tax only on new construction: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

No GST on existing crematoriums and the tax will be levied only on construction of new crematoriums, says Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman while replying to debate on price rise in Rajya Sabha.

New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said no GST was being imposed on existing crematoriums and the tax will be levied only on construction of new crematoriums. She was replying to debate on price rise in Rajya Sabha. She said the GST Council has not imposed any new levy on essential items consumed by the poor, though such products were taxed in one form or the other by almost all states in the pre-GST era.

The minister, replying to a short-duration discussion on price rise in the Rajya Sabha, also said GST has not increased the burden on families. She also said the government has contained prices of tomato, onion, and potato, while comparing rates with those prevailing in November 2013.

Almost every state, including West Bengal, Jharkhand, Maharashtra and Kerala, imposed levies on items like pulses, flour, curd, paneer, and buttermilk before the GST regime kicked in on July 1, 2017. The GST Council has not imposed any new tax on essential items, the minister said while replying to a short-duration debate on price rise in the Rajya Sabha.

"...every state had one or the other tax on all these items," she said and cited taxes on items like pulses, flour, buttermilk, and paneer. The ongoing monsoon session of Parliament has witnessed several disruptions by the opposition after GST was imposed on several pre-packed and labelled essential items.

The minister said all states at the last GST Council meeting held at Chandigarh had agreed to the proposal to levy 5 per cent GST on pre-packed, labelled food items. Not one person (state minister) spoke against the GST during the meeting, she added. Sitharaman stressed that taxes have not been levied on food items consumed by the poor, as the GST has not been imposed on items that are sold loose.

While the minister was referring to a tax on a food item in West Bengal in the pre-GST era, TMC party leader Derek O'Brien tried to raise a point of order and later his party staged a walkout. Also, there is no GST on hospital beds or ICUs, but only on rent of Rs 5,000 per day in a hospital.

Targeted Approach

She said the government has adopted a targeted approach, based on ground-level inputs, to tackle retail inflation which is ruling at around 7 per cent. Sitharaman stressed that the fundamentals of the Indian economy are strong. Indian economy compared to the situation prevailing in peer-group nations and even developed countries is definitely "much better", she said. However, the minister also acknowledged that global factors are impacting the economy, and said "these are realities".

The finance minister said that both the government and the Reserve Bank are taking steps to bring down inflation below 7 per cent and further under 6 per cent. The government has tasked the RBI to ensure that the consumer price index (CPI) based inflation remains at 4 per cent with a margin of 2 per cent on either side.

Sitharaman also countered opposition charges that the central government was only working for Ambanis and Adanis, and not the poor. Such arguments, she said only politicise an important debate like the one on price rise. (with Agency inputs)