New Delhi, Nov 16 (KNN) The Goods and Services Tax (GST) council after its meeting on 10 November announced reduction in GST rate on fishnets from 12 percent to 5 percent which the fishnet industry comprising primarily of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) had been seeking since GST rollout. The high GST rates on fishnets led to loss of jobs and closure of many small scale fishnet industries.

Ramanathan Jayaraman, CEO, Chidambaram Fishnets told KNN that reduction in GST rate to 5 percent is a big relief to the fishnet industry.

He however maintained that not all demands of industry have been met, accessories like floats still face high GST rate of 28 percent.

The Chairman said that the GST had hardly hit the business of fishnet industry with stocks being piled up due to decreased sale. He added that the recent decision of GST council would bring the industry back on its rails. Due to reduction in tariff the price of the nets would come down to pre-GST prices and both consumers and fishermen will benefit.

He also said that the government should also decrease the GST rates on floats to 12 percent from 28 percent and refund should be provided to the exporters immediately and the glitches on the online GST portal should be taken care of. (KNN/AG)