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New Delhi, June 1: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday asked the industry to look into the existing incidence of indirect tax before seeking reduction in GST rates as proposed by the GST Council.

He further said that the industry should gear itself for GST, which the government proposes to roll out from July 1.

“We are passing through a stage where the government is ahead of the industry. I will expect that the industry, or those sections which say they are not ready, should also fall in line because we are quite clear about the date,” Mr Jaitley told reporters.

As regards industry raising concerns over fitment of certain commodities, Mr Jaitley said the GST Council follows certain mechanism before deciding on the rates.

“The officials discuss the existing rates, they try and fit in commodities to the extent possible into the existing rates and then the Council takes up the matter for consideration and finally approves it. It is the

AS REGARDS industry raising concerns over fitment of certain commodities, the finance minister said the GST Council follows certain mechanism before deciding on the rates

Council which takes the decision,” he said.

The GST Council, comprising Mr Jaitley and his state counterparts, had last month fitted over 1,200 goods and 500 services in the tax bracket of 5, 12, 18 and 28 per cent. Some sections of the industry, including auto and FMCG, has been seeking a rate reduction.

Mr Jaitley said, “Using media propaganda for making the rates vary will not make any significant impact on the decision of the Council.”

When asked about high 28 per cent tax rate on the entertainment industry, he said in several states the existing incidence of entertainment tax is 100 per cent, where as in the GST regime after paying 28 per cent tax rate input tax credit can be availed.