Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman addressed the media following the 45th GST Council Meeting today. The Union Minister said the time was not right to bring petroleum products under the ambit of GST.
However, exemptions and concession were announced for several life-saving drugs, including Remdesivir.
Here are some important announcements from the press conference:
1. Exemptions given to life savings drugs, Zolgensma and Viltepso
2. Concessional GST Rates on COVID-19 related medicines (Inc Remdesivir) extended To 31 December, 2021
3. Cancer treating drug, Keytruda GST reduced from 12% to 5%
4. Exemptions on container and freights GST extended by one month
5. National permit fee for goods carriage for operating pan-India exempted from GST
6. Certain Training Programmes run by Central/state government exempted from GST
7. National Permit fee for goods carriage for operating pan-India exempted from GST
8. Aircraft-related products or on international lease exempted from IGST
9. Not the right time to bring petroleum products GST, Kerala High Court will be informed
10. Railway parts and locomotives GST increased from 12% to 18%
11. Zomato, Swiggy, instead of restaurants, to pay taxes
12. Detailed Discussion On Gig Workers and Taxing Food Aggregators; The Place Of Delivery Would be Point of Taxation
(Updated story to follow soon)