New Delhi Dec 30 PTI Ahead of the GST Council meeting several states on Thursday flagged higher tax rate on textile products from January 1 and demanded that the rate hike be put on hold In the pre-budget meeting chaired by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman states like Gujarat West Bengal Delhi Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu said that they are not in favour of a hike in Goods and Services Tax GST rate on textiles to 12 per cent from 5 per cent currently with effect from January 1 2022 The 46th meeting of the GST Council chaired by Sitharaman and comprising state FMs is scheduled on December 31 with a single agenda to consider Gujarats demand of putting the rate hike decision on hold as also representations received from trade in this regard Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said the move to raise GST on textiles from 5 per cent to 12 per cent is not people friendly and this should be withdrawn If a common man buy clothes of Rs 1000 he has to pay GST of Rs 120 Delhi is not in favour of this said Sisodia who is also the Delhi Finance Minister Tamil Nadu Finance Minister P Thiaga Rajan said It is one point agenda for tomorrows Council meet It is an agenda that many states have raised In the agenda item it says that it was raised by Gujarat but I know that many states raised it It should be stalled move to raise GST rate on textile Rajasthan Education Minister Subhash Garg said the Fridays GST Council meeting is likely to be on rate hike on footwear and textiles and Rajasthan does believe that rate hike on textiles should be rolled back especially when countries like Bangladesh are giving us stiff competition in such sector The Council in its previous meeting on September 17 had decided to correct the inverted duty structure in footwear and textile sectors With effect from January 1 2022 all footwear irrespective of prices will attract GST at 12 per cent and all textile products except cotton including readymade garments will have 12 per cent GST West Bengals former finance minister and current advisor to state Chief Minister Amit Mitra had earlier urged the Centre to roll back a proposed hike in textile from 5 per cent to 12 per cent saying this would lead to closure of around 1 lakh textile units and 15 lakh job losses Telangana Industries Minister KT Rama Rao too had made a case for withdrawal of its proposed plan to increase GST rates Industry too has opposed the rise in tax from 5 per cent citing higher compliance cost especially for the unorganised sector and MSMEs besides making poor mans clothing expensive PTI DP JD MR MR

Kolkata Dec 26 PTI Former West Bengal finance minister and now advisor to the state Chief Minister Amit Mitra on Sunday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to convene an urgent meeting of the GST Council to revert a hike in tax on man-made fibre textiles In a tweet Mitra said Modi Govt will commit another blunder on Jan 1 By raising GST on man-made Textiles from 5 per cent to 12 per cent 15 million jobs will be lost and 1 lakh units will close Modi ji call a GST Council meeting now and reverse decision before sword of Damocles falls falls on the head of millions of people The union government had notified an increase in GST on natural fibre products from 5 per cent to 12 per cent including apparels in the lower tax bracket with effect from January 1 2022 The former finance minister on December 24 at a media meet had urged the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to similarly convene an urgent meeting of the GST Council to rescind the seven per cent tax hike in GST on the textiles sector to prevent job loss and closure of small units If the tax hike is not reversed then the impact will be huge with job loss to 15 lakh 15 million people including those engaged in ancillary industry and closure of one lakh small units A lot of units will revert to the informal sector Mitra had told reporters during the meet However in his tweet put out on Sunday the job loss figure was placed at 15 million The total number of jobs in Indias textile sector is placed at 45 million by the India Brand Equity Foundation a trust founded by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry Mitra had pointed out that the textile trades natural fibre segment constitutes 80 per cent of the Rs 54 lakh crore sector and its net profit margin is between one and three per cent making it vulnerable to any kind of cost increase The cotton sector is already reeling under 70 per cent inflation he had claimed adding that the government estimate of earning an additional Rs 7000 crore from raising the tax is mythical as a lot of units may shut down as a direct consequence of the tax hike He had accused the Centre of not discussing the issue in the GST council before announcing the hike PTI BSM JRC JRC

Kolkata Dec 20 PTI Amit Mitra West Bengals former finance minister and current chief advisor to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said he fears India may be heading towards stagflation Mitra an economist by training said India is already suffering from rising inflation and unemployment simultaneously Wholesale inflation is 142 per cent and unemployment has expanded by 1048 per cent Now without private investment increasing we may be heading toward stagflation Mitra said speaking virtually at the CFO Leadership Summit organised by the Institute of Cost Accountants of India Stagflation is defined as situation with persistent high inflation combined with high unemployment and stagnant demand in a countrys economy Mitra said India is facing such a precarious situation due to faulty economic policies of the Union government which began with demonitisation in 2016 followed by launching a complex Goods and Services Tax and now wrong policies to manage the economy in the Covid times that does not boost private investment or empower people to spend more Infrastructure capital expenditure resorted to by the Government will have a time lag and we need immediate spending and for that the government has to give money directly into the hands of the people Union finance minister accepts private investment is not happening and is asking different departments to spur public capex but that will not yield immediate results he said Speaking of West Bengal Mitra claimed the state had adopted the right policies including lowering stamp duty and circle rates to boost private sector investment which he said led to a positive state GDP growth of 12 per cent when the country had a de-growth of 77 per cent in FY21 Many countries put money into the hands of their population to revive the economy he said However this has not been replicated in India As a result India has ranked among the most unequal country in the World Inequality Report 2022 where top one per cent of the population now controls 22 per cent of the national income and bottom 50 per cent has a share of just 13 per cent of the countrys income the former state finance minister said PTI BSM JRC JRC

Kolkata Sep 28 PTI Eminent economist and BJP MLA Ashok Lahiri on Tuesday scotched speculation about his joining the ruling Trinamool Congress in West Bengal but said he is ready to give constructive advice on financial matters to the state government if askedRumours were doing the rounds that one or two BJP legislators including Lahiri who is a former chief economic adviser to the government of India are set to defect to the TMC after former Union minister Babul Supriyo joined the Mamata Banerjee-led party on September 18The MLA from Balurghat in north Bengal told reporters here that the speculation about his switching sides has no basis and he will continue to work as a BJP MLAThere had not been any communication from the Trinamool Congress supremo other top leaders of the party from fellow economist and state finance minister Amit Mitra requesting me to join the Trinamool Congress Lahiri saidAs an opposition legislator my job will be to highlight peoples issues their problems As an economist having helped different states on financial matters I am ready to give suggestions on technical matters to the state if asked and confidentiality maintained he saidTo a question on former BJP vice-president Mukul Roy who returned to the TMC shortly after winning the assembly election on a BJP ticket Lahiri said I am not sure whether he belongs to the Trinamool Congress or the BJP currently Roy officially the BJP MLA of Krishnanagar Uttar did not resign from the assemblyOn the controversial appointment of Roy as the Public Accounts Committee chairman Lahiri said Since the honourable high court has delivered an order on the issue and since the honourable Speaker is deliberating on the matter I wont comment Lahiri was believed to have been considered for the post of chairman of the PACSo far as I am concerned after all these years of service as an economist I am certainly not enamoured by perks and other facilities associated with the post of PAC chairman I am a man of simple living he said PTI SUS NN NN