CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu government netted over Rs 2,000 crore through GST during April this year. This revenue is 21 per cent more than that earned during corresponding period last year.
Talking to mediapersons after taking part in the GST Council meeting in New Delhi on Friday, through video-conferencing facility at the Secretariat, Fisheries Minister D Jayakumar said extending some concessions for making digital payment under GST Act was discussed.
Levying a surcharge not exceeding `3 per kg for sugar over and above 5 per cent GST being levied now was also discussed in the meeting. However, Tamil Nadu had objected to it saying levying surcharge was not acceptable to the State.
Similarly, the State also objected to the proposal to reduce tax on ethanol from 20 to 18 per cent. After this, the Central government put forth an alternative proposal for reducing the tax on ethanol meant for oil companies. This was accepted by Tamil Nadu on the condition that this concession should have proper legal safeguards.
In the past meetings of the GST Council, Tamil Nadu had placed a total of 84 demands and of them, 38 had been accepted while 46 were under consideration. Due to the consistent efforts of the government, so far, tax had been reduced for 319 goods (commodities) and 75 services.