Scientific Goods Manufacturers Urged Reduction on GST

Members of the Ambala Scientific Apparatus Manufacturing and Export Association urged the GST Council to rethink about imposing GST on the scientific goods manufactured by the scientific instruments manufacturers.

SAMA president Arun P Bansal and general secretary Ankur Chhabra said that the government had reduced GST 28 per cent to 18 per cent on four items.

Mr Bansal said the four scientific items on which GST had been reduced are very small items and these come under hardware items.
He pointed out that with this reduction, the scientific industry was not going to be benefitted.

Under the new bill, Bansal said the science industry of Ambala Cantt would be badly affected as the industry which is paying tax at the rate of 5 per cent will have to pay 28 per cent tax. If such thing happens, the science industry would be ruined with heavy rate GST.

Both the leaders apprehended that the scientific industry would come nearer to closure with the imposition of GST. They said that there were more than 3,000 scientific industry units where 15,000 to 20,000 people were engaged in the manufacture of scientific instruments and apparatus.

They said with nominal tax at the rate of five per cent, the manufacturers catered the demand of not only Indian institutions but also in the foreign countries. If the GST was brought to the rate of 18 per cent from 28 per cent, they would lose the ground in competition with Chinese goods which were available at cheaper rates.

With higher GST rate the production cost of the scientific goods would go up which would lose the demand in comparison to the Chinese goods at cheaper price, they added.

They apprehended that the China which was already making the goods available at cheaper rates would have monopoly in the field and the Indian products would lose the demand because of their high prices. They said that the Union Finance Minister should reduce the rate of GST on the scientific goods if the industry was to survive.