Fly ash brick entrepreneurs in Andhra Pradesh seek clarity from Union Finance Minister on decision to reduce GST

There is distortion between the decision taken on fly ash bricks and blocks at the 47th GST Council Meeting held in June this year and the subsequent notifications issued by the government, say N. Bhanumathidas and N. Kalidas, fly ash brick entrepreneurs.

In a letter addressed to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on the eve of her visit to the city on Thursday, Ms. Bhanumathidas and Mr. Kalidas, while thanking her for her decision to reduce GST on fly ash bricks to the concessional rate of 5% at the 47th GST Council meeting, noted that lakhs of micro-entrepreneurs throughout the country had celebrated the decision.

The minutes of the meeting were clearly mentioned in the Press Information Bureau (PIB) release, but in the ensuing notification, there was a deviation from the minutes of the council meeting, as the concessional rate of 5% fly ash bricks was not mentioned in the notification clearly. They noted that no clarification was provided by the CBIC regarding this gap.

Mr. Kalidas sought to know whether the distortion had occurred with or without the knowledge of the Finance Minister. He appealed to the Finance Minister to address the issue during her visit to the city on Friday.

Meanwhile, a reply received by RTI applicant Gaurav Bansal, from the GST Council Secretariat on September 28, says that the Minutes of the 47th GST Council Meeting are awaiting approval of the Competent Authority. On such approval, the minutes of the meeting would be posted in public domain on the website of the council.

Source: THE HINDU