GST Cut for Cruise Tourism to Be Discussed in Next Council Meeting

While speaking at the Global Cruise Conclave on Thursday in Mumbai, Union Minister for Transport and Shipping Nitin Gadkari assured that the matter to reduce GST rate on cruise tourism will be discussed in the upcoming GST Council meeting. It is very likely that the industry will get a major relief which will remove the ambiguity around the GST which is currently being charged at a rate of 18 percent on many industry supplies.

The conclave was held by India Cruise Lines Association in Mumbai and was attended by many reputed personalities including Rajya Sabha MP Subhash Chandra. Gadkari said the Council has already been approached by the shipping ministry seeking GST cut, a decision about which will be taken in the next 30th GST council meeting.

A tweet shared by Mr Gadkari on his twitter handle says, “Attended the ‘Global Cruise Conclave’, organized by India Cruise Lines Association (INCLA) in Mumbai today. I stated that India has a lot of potential in the cruise tourism sector and is well poised to grow.” The Minister also shared a picture of him along with Subhash Chandra.

In his speech at the meeting, Gadkari said the industry possesses a lot of potentials which will further prosper by future investments from the government and private sectors. “Today when we talk about cruise tourism we only consider our 7,000-km-long coastline, not our around 23,000-km-long riverfront. We have a cruise floating today in Varanasi, and it should be possible in all our rivers,” Gadkari added.

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Rajya Sabha MP Subhash Chandra also took the opportunity to speak at the event. He said it is probably the best time for the investors in the Indian cruise industry. The government plans to boost the industry by promoting cruise entertainment which will directly and indirectly create new employment opportunities for the citizens. “Essel Group is committed towards cruise tourism and is starting cruise services from November. I know there are a lot of challenges but we will be able to make it,” he added. With this, Chandra also announces the launch of his Essel Group in the cruise tourism industry.