Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has been appointed as convenor of the reconstituted GST Council Group of Ministers (GoM) to enhance the real estate sector under the GST regime.
In an official statement, this was quoted by the office of the Goods and Services Tax Council.
By the State, Sawant was appointed as a permanent member of the GST Council and attended the 53rd GST Council meeting.
The members of GoM are Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary, Uttar Pradesh Finance Minister Suresh Kumar Khanna, Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema, Gujarat Finance Minister Kanubhai Desai and Kerala Finance Minister K N Balagopal.
As the permanent member of the GST Council for Goa, Sawant has been appointed to replace Minister Mauvin Godinho, who had been the State representative on the council since 2017.
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On June 14 a communiqué by the Department of Finance to the Joint Secretary (Goods & Services Tax Council Secretariat) in New Delhi cites the nomination of CM for GST Council.
“The Government of Goa has decided that Pramod Sawant, Chief Minister/Finance Minister shall be the permanent member of GST Council for the State of Goa in term of clause 2(1) (iii) of the Procedure and Conduct of Business Regulation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council. The CM will be attending all the upcoming GST Council meetings,” read the order signed by Under Secretary Finance Pranab Bhat.
Godinho represented Goa in his interactions with the chairperson of the GST Council, the Union Finance Minister, and other members, unlike other states where Finance Ministers are State representatives.