Brick makers urge govt to "reduce back" GST to 1 pc

Brick makers, which are on a strike for nearly four months, have urged the government to bring down the GST rate on bricks from 6 per cent to the earlier level of 1 per cent.

The new GST rate is effective April 1, 2022, Omvir Singh Bhati, General Secretary of the All India Brick and Tile Manufacturers Federation (AIBTMF) told PTI on the sidelines of an event here.

Earlier, GST of 1 per cent was levied on brick manufacturers under the composition scheme.

''We are facing a tough time.Our kilns all over the country are shut at the moment as we are finding it difficult to do business in absence of demand and high input cost. We demand the government to reduce back the GST,'' he said.

Kiln owners are on a nationwide strike for the past three to four months, he said, citing reasons for shutdown of the units.

There was 1 per cent GST on businesses with turnover of up to Rs 1.5 crore. Most of the AIBTMF members have turnover in this range.

However, the government has increased the GST to 6 per cent for the bricks industry only and it remains the same for others, Bhati said explaining the issue.

The decision to hike GST rate was taken in a GST Council meeting last year, he said adding coal, which is one of the raw materials for bricks also attracts a higher GST of 12 per cent as compared to 5 per cent earlier.

It is a labour-intensive industry and the government must rethink its decision of increasing the GST. There are about over 1.5 lakh brick kilns in India. Around 3 crore workers are away from work due to shutdown, Bhati noted.

''We have already given representations to ministries of Finance, Labour, Coal etc to analyse our concern and take a decision accordingly,'' AIBTMF Vice President Atul Kumar Singh said.