Srinagar, Dec 21: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Saturday said that there will be no GST hike on Kashmiri shawls.
Omar made these remarks while speaking to reporters after the 55th GST council meet which was chaired by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
The proposed GST increase on Kashmiri shawls was not discussed during the 55th meeting of the GST Council, Omar said.
Coming as a relief for the artisans of the J&K, Omar Abdullah told reporters here after the meeting, “Some things were agreed on, some things were deferred. There had been a lot of speculation that GST on shawls particularly Pashmina shawls will be hiked, so we had come prepared to ensure that wouldn’t happen.”
He further said that a tax hike on Kashmiri shawls would severely affect the Pashmina shawl industry.
“Thankfully, it wasn’t taken up, and we will also ensure that in the future, something like this is not considered because it would be life-threatening to our Pashmina shawl industry”, he added.
