BENGALURU: Karnataka Chief Minister DK Shivakumar will leave for New Delhi on Tuesday evening after the Cabinet meeting to attend the 57th GST Council meeting chaired by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday.
The CM held a preliminary briefing with Finance Department officials on Monday ahead of the meeting. Karnataka, an active member of the GST Fitment Committee, is expected to support the agenda on procedural reforms, while seeking an exception on Input Tax Credit (ITC) relating to vehicles.
The GST Council is also likely to consider a proposal aimed at protecting genuine buyers from losing their ITC when suppliers fail to deposit the tax collected from them with the government.
Karnataka Home Minister Priyank Kharge said on Monday that Shivakumar’s visit to Delhi was aimed at seeking greater clarity on GST-related issues, the 16th Finance Commission and Karnataka’s pending drought-relief request.
Priyank said that former CM Siddaramaiah used to send minister Krishna Byre Gowda as his representative to GST Council meetings, whereas Shivakumar was attending the meeting himself to seek details and clarifications. “There is nothing wrong with the Chief Minister attending the meeting,” Priyank said.