The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council in it’s meeting on Saturday decided to reduce GST on millet flour food preparations. The Council stated that millet flour food preparations will be now taxed under the 5 per cent tax slab, down from the earlier slab of 18 per cent GST, reported ANI citing sources.
Earlier, the fitment committee of the GST Council recommended the exemption of powdered millet, while it declined to give any incentives for prepared produce made out of millet, reported the Economic Times.
Notably, millet flour is known for it’s nutritional value and health benefits and has gained popularity recently as a healthy choice among consumers in India. By reducing the GST tax slab on millet flour food preparations, the government aims to increase public access to these food items. India is currently observing 2023 as the ‘Year of Millets’ and the government is trying to increase the production and consumption of millets.
Earlier, the Union Agriculture Minister, Narendra Singh Tomar, noted that millets are climate resilient and require less water and minimum fertilisers and pesticides to grow. After India’s proposal received support from 72 countries, the United Nations General Assembly announced the year 2023 as the International Year of Millets (IYM 2023).
As such, the Indian government has been working on ‘mission mode’ to advocate millet as a beneficial crop for farmers, the environment and the consumers, the report added.
The GST Council meeting is being held at the Sushma Swaraj Bhawan in New Delhi today. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is chairing the meeting and state finance ministers and senior officials from central and state governments are attending the meeting.
The Council meets periodically to discuss matters related to the GST regime such as tax rates, policy changes, administrative issues and much more. The GST Council is key in influencing the indirect tax structure in the country, making sure it relaxes the tax burden on citizens and businesses.