CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu today sought exemption for powerloom and handloom sector products from the Goods and Services Tax (GST), saying they employed several lakhs of people and their interest need to be protected. State Fisheries Minister D Jayakumar took up the demand at the 21st GST Council meeting held at Hyderabad.
An official release said he highlighted that the state government was providing free electricity supply to the handloom and powerloom sectors to protect their interests. "Keeping their interest in mind, the Minister today requested the Council to exempt the sectors from GST", it said.
The Minister also sought the Council to modify tax rates for more than 60 products after some anomalies were pointed out in the fixation of GST which came into effect from July 1. Jayakumar also insisted on fully exempting fried peanuts and idli-dosa batter from the tax.
The Fitment Committee (of GST Council) recommended reducing the tax rates for fried peanuts from existing 12 per cent to 5 per cent and for idli-dosa batter from 18 per cent to 12 per cent, the release said. The state also sought reduction of GST rate from 18 per cent to 5 per cent on spare parts used in the textile machinery.