GST cut on farm equipment to boost farmer profits: Agriculture Minister

New Delhi [India], September 7 (ANI): Union Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan stated that the recent reduction in GST (Goods and Services) rates on agricultural equipment will help lower the cost of farming and boost farmers' profits.
Talking to the media in Bhopal on Saturday, Chouhan said that GST on bio-pesticides and micro-nutrients has been reduced, which will benefit farmers. Additionally, the trend of farmers shifting towards bio-fertilisers will likely increase. In the dairy sector, there will now be no GST on milk and cheese. This will not only benefit the common man, but farmers, cattle breeders and milk producers will also benefit.
The minister said that the government's resolution is to reduce the cost of production in agriculture and increase production. If production increases and cost decreases, then the farmer's profit in farming will increase, he added, according to the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare.
He said that the farmers of the country will receive significant benefits from them, and some companies have already started offering the reduction benefit.
Union Minister stated, "The reduction of GST to 5 per cent on agricultural equipment, be it tractor, harvester, rotavator, of different types, will prove to be a boon for the farmers."
"Like animal husbandry, beekeeping, fish farming, agro-forestry, sheep-goat rearing, poultry farm, if you look at the overall sector, because agriculture and animal husbandry are complementary to each other. The exemption given in GST on that will also prove to be a boon for our agriculture and farmers," Chouhan said.
Going further, he said that another benefit for farmers is that GST on energy-based equipment has been reduced from 12 per cent to 5 per cent. This will make research-based equipment cheaper because efforts are also being made to make farmers energy providers, he stated.
"Research-based equipment will also benefit them. Similarly, GST has been reduced on drip irrigation etc. They will become cheaper and will be easily accessible to farmers. If farmers use them, water will also be saved, production will increase and farmers' profit will increase," he added.
In a significant simplification in the GST regime, which will benefit the common man, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday announced consolidation of 12 per cent and 18 per cent slabs into a dual rate structure of 5 per cent and 18 per cent, besides 40 per cent for sin goods.
The simplification is part of the "Next-Generation GST" reform initiative, designed to boost affordability, consumption, and economic efficiency. (ANI)