44th GST Council Meeting: GST Rate Cut on Covid Medicines & Equipment

The Centre may convene a 44th GST council meeting within the forthcoming few weeks agenda being “Exemptions by Centre on Covid related medicines and equipment” as states are continuously and publicly approaching Centre for GST exemption in addition to demanding medicines and medical equipment that are necessary for the fight against Covid-19 pandemic. The medicines and equipment are oxygen concentrators, life-saving drugs, ventilators, and so on.

Delhi, Chhattisgarh and Punjab have approached the Central Government for the exemption of GST on devices such as ventilators, life-saving drugs like Remdesivir and other like medicines and devices

“A meeting will be held soon. A new agenda for the GST Council is being drawn up. We had prepared an agenda for a planned Council meeting before the second wave of COVID-19, but now have had to make a new one in light of the current situation, a top government official told reporters”

Read Also: GST Exemption on COVID-19 Relief Material Distributed from Abroad

Presently, Delhi can be seen as the worst-hit place in India by the Covid pandemic. Recently, Delhi Deputy-Chief Minister Manish Sisodia penned a letter to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman asking for a GST waiver on oxygen concentrators. Sisodia has written that Concentrators are “essential life support machines” given the surging COVID cases in the Capital and citizens would benefit if the GST component of the price could be waived off.

Also, The Ministry of Finance may plan to address the inverted duty structure under the GST system in the upcoming 44th GST council meeting. It is the top priority for the center and state government, sources said.