THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Finance Minister KN Balagopal has said the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council’s decision not to waive the five per cent GST on Covid vaccine was against the interests of states.The Central government argued for its continuation citing the change in the vaccine procurement strategy. It said it would purchase 75 per cent of the vaccines from manufacturers and 70 per cent of the GST revenue from it will be shared with states. “It would have been a big boost to the Covid prevention activities if tax was waived on the remaining 25 per cent of vaccines meant for distribution through private hospitals,” said Balagopal.
The finance minister said the Centre’s stand not to waive GST on Heparin and portable hospital unit was disappointing. The united stand of the states helped pave way for the tax cuts announced for certain other medicines and hospital equipment. Balagopal said Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s original proposal was that the tax relaxations should end by August. But it was extended till September following strong demand from states in the meeting, he said.
5.38 lakh doses of Covishield vaccine received by Kerala
It includes 1.88 lakh doses procured by the state directly through Kerala Medical Services Corporation Ltd and 3.5 lakh provided by the Centre, said Health Minister Veena George
Vaccine reached Kochi on Friday and its distribu-tion started on Saturday