Exempt essential food products from purview of GST

Agrofood Chamber of Commerce and Industry has urged Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to impress upon the GST Council to exempt all essential food products under GST, be it registered brand or not.

Its president S. Rethinavelu said that a separate GST Council of trade should be formed with representatives from all States and Union Territories under the Chairmanship of the Finance Minister to hear views before the GST Council meeting. Further, there must be one tax rate for all products covered under one Chapter for ease of doing business. The service sector threshold limit should be increased to Rs.40 lakh from Rs.20 lakh for the benefit of small service providers.

Assesses having an annual turnover of less than Rs.50 crore should be given the option to go for e-invoice. Cereals, pulses and staples must be deregulated from the Essential Commodities Act, 1955.

Madurai airport must be upgraded as international Airport. Southern Tamil Nadu was blessed with substantial quality of agricultural and horticultural produce. Farmers and Food Processors are encouraged to export fruits, vegetables and flowers and other value added agro products to several countries from Madurai. Once the airport status is upgraded, it will enable more connectivity and benefit farmers.