Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman chairs the 55th meeting of the GST Council, in Jaisalmer, on December 21, 2024.
| Photo Credit: PTI

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday (December 21, 2024) said that States did not agree on bringing aviation turbine fuel under the ambit of Goods and Services Tax.

“States did not feel comfortable. They didn’t want the ATF because they saw it as part of the crude petroleum diesel basket, and therefore they said that it alone cannot be taken out, and therefore that continues to remain where it is today,” she said while briefing media on the outcome of 55th GST Council meeting in Jaisalmer.

Besides, she said, no decision was taken with regard to reduction in GST on insurance premiums as the Group of Ministers (GoM) needed more time to study the issue.

Many inputs are awaited including the one from insurance regulator IRDAI, she said.

She further said that the GST Council has also deferred the decision with regard to rate rationalisation as more time is required by the GoM for a comprehensive study.

However, the Council made suggestions with regard to GST rate revision on various items including fortified rice kernels and gene therapy.

New Delhi:

The reconstituted Group of Ministers (GoM) on GST for rate rationalisation met for the first time on Thursday.

West Bengal finance minister Chandrima Bhattacharya says she has put in a request to reduce GST rates of 18 per cent on life and health insurance premiums.

She said, “I have placed the request of reducing GST on life and health insurance. I have been told that the fitment committee is looking into it.”

Krishna Byre Gowda, Karnataka Minister said, “We have discussed the issue of relaxation in GST rates on insurance; we have asked for more data on it”

On rate rationalisation or reducing the number of slabs under GST Bhattacharya said, “No member of the rate rationalisation committee is in favour of changing or reducing the number of current slabs under GST”

On changes in current GST slabs Krishna Byre Gowda, says, “Why disturb something which is going on smoothly.”

However, sources from the GoM told ANI that, this was the first meeting of the reconstituted GoM on rate rationalisation and no decision has been taken on reducing slabs, cutting GST rates on different items or reducing GST rate on life and health insurance premiums.

Proposals have come for reducing rates for Insurance, hospitality and beverages, and the online gaming sector, among many. The GoM for rate rationalisation was reconstituted in June 2024, after the formation of the new government at the centre and new state governments in Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Chaudhary was appointed as the convenor of the GoM on GST rate rationalisation. The other members of the reconstituted panel are Uttar Pradesh Finance Minister Suresh Kumar Khanna, Goa Transport Minister Mauvin Godinho, and Rajasthan Medical, and Health Services Minister Gajendra Singh.

The GoM also include West Bengal Finance Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya, Karnataka Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda, and Kerala Finance Minister K N Balagopal.

GST rate rationalisation has been pending before the committee for a long time and it was anticipated that a decision would be taken regarding the fitment of the listed items under each GST slab. Particularly, products widely used by the public may be suggested for a transition from the 12% high-rate slab to the 5 per cent slab.

In the last GST Council meeting held on June 22, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced several significant measures, including Aadhaar biometric integration, and exemptions in railway services, among others.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)