“Thankfully, it was not taken up”: CM Omar Abdullah on proposed GST hike on Kashmir Shawl

NEW DELHI: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah clarified that the proposed GST hike for the Kashmir Shawl was not taken up during the 55th meeting of the GST council.

The 55th meeting of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council was held in Jaisalmer of Rajasthan on Saturday. The meeting was chaired by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

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.”

The J&K CM underscored that any hike on the Kashmiri Shawl would badly hit 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…,” CM Omar Abdullah said.

Hours ago, Peoples Democratic Party supremo Mehbooba Mufti requested CM Omar Abdullah to clear his position on the proposed GST hike on Kashmiri Shawl.

“… Today, when you increase GST by 28% in the capital of Kashmir, our art will automatically end… Efforts are being made to destroy it by doing development work on horticulture land and by imposing GST on shawls and handicrafts, efforts are being made to destroy this art. Both these things kept Jammu and Kashmir alive in difficult times.”

The PDP supremo expressed hope that the NC government will address the concerns of the artisans.

“I request Omar Sahab what are you doing to save it? What are you doing on the matter of increasing GST by 28%?… I hope that Omar Sahab will pay attention to this and solve the problems of the people…”, She said.