New Delhi. The prices of many things have increased since the last day. Meanwhile, while sharing a list, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that if the 14 items in the list are sold open, that is, sold without packing, then no rate of GST will be applicable to them. This list includes essential items of daily use like pulses, wheat, bajra, rice, semolina, and curd/lassi. Defending the government’s decision of 5% tax on items like cereals, rice, flour, and curd, the Finance Minister said. Said that this GST is applicable only on those products which are pre-packed and labeled. Let us inform you that these decisions were taken in the 47th meeting of the GST Council held in Chandigarh last month.

These misconceptions spread about GST
Nirmala Sitharaman further said ‘Recently, the GST Council in its 47th meeting has recommended reconsidering the decision to levy GST on specific food items like pulses, cereals, flour. Though there is a lot of misunderstanding, here is an attempt to bring out the facts. Is this the first time such food items are being taxed? No, the state governments were collecting a lot of revenue from food grains in the pre-GST regime. Punjab alone collected over Rs 2,000 crore on food grains through purchase tax. UP raised ?700 crores.