Jamshedpur, July 10: The recent decision of the GST Council to levy 5% GST on pre-packed and pre-labelled foodgrains, Curd, butter milk etc. has come under severe criticism of the business community of the Country and the foodgrain associations and APMC markets who are worst affected sector of this decision are planning to hold strong demonstrations in every state of the Country and a possibility of Bharat Bandh in foodgrain trade cannot be ruled out.

The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) has appealed the GST Council, the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and State Finance Ministers of the States to withdrew the decision and till the decision is taken in GST Council till such time the decision may be kept in abeyance and the discussions should be held with the stakeholders. The trade leaders from the foodgrain fraternity across the Country are in talks to have a countrywide joint strategy on this issue.

Praveen Khandelwal, Secretary General & National Secretary Suresh Sonthalia of the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) while condemning the decision, held finance ministers of the States, responsible for such an illogical decision, which will have multiple effects in foodgrain trade of the Country and will load the citizens with extra financial burden. Both the trade leaders said that surprisingly, the essential food grains have been taken under GST for the first time in India when State Governments and the Central Government in the GST Council together have planned levy of tax on  pre-packed and pre-labelled food grain which will have a negative impact not only the trade but also on the agriculture sector. The decision will benefit big corporate houses at the cost of small manufacturers and traders.

Khandelwal & Sonthalia said that the rationale behind the opposition is that the both Central & State Governments are collecting as high as 28 per cent Goods and Services Tax (GST) on certain commodities to compensate for revenue losses in lieu of keeping agriculture produce out of the GST regime. If the GST Council wishes to impose tax on non-branded pulses and other agriculture commodities, the logic stands that the Council has to forgo a 28% GST tax slab. Further, at a time when every month the GST collection is increasing, what is the need of bringing food items under the tax slab of 5% under GST and those items as of now were not under any tax slab.

Both leaders said that so far state level meetings have been held in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Jharkhand Rajasthan, Tamilnadu, Chattisgarh,  Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and in the next week, the trade leaders will meet in West Bengal, Kerala, Gujarat, North Eastern States, Punjab, Haryana, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana etc. It has been felt that the State finance ministers have failed in protecting the interests of small manufacturers and traders who are dealing in food grains and other items.