GST is round the corner and the industry is worried. Several
senior members of Bollywood feel that a GST of 28 per cent, as proposed, would
be detrimental for the industry's future if levied
Tomorrow, the Finance Minister Mr Arun Jaitley will chair the 15th Meeting
of the GST Council scheduled to be held in the national capital. This meeting
is important because it is likely to finalize the rates of tax and cess to be
levied on the commodities remaining after the fitment exercise in the 14th GST
Council Meeting.
Devendra Fadnavis, Pahlaj Nihalani , Apoorva Mehta, Ramesh Taurani, Babloo Pachisia & Vijay Galani
Last night,
Censor Chief Pahlaj Nihalani took the industry's sentiment to the Maharashtra
CM Mr Devendra Fadnavis.
Nihalani and Mr
Fadnavis met at Varsha close to midnight.
Dharma
Productions' CEO Apoorva Mehta, Tips head honcho Ramesh Taurani,
producers Babloo Pachisia and Vijay Galani and FOX Star Studios' CEO Vijay
Singh had joned in.
Confirming
this, Nihalani said, "We asked for the meeting only at 9 pm yesterday and we were
asked to come immediately. It is great that someone as busy as Mr Fadnavis
could meet us at such a short notice."
What exactly transpired? Said Nihalani, "We told Mr Fadnavis that the
proposed 28 per cent GST would burden the industry no end. He has promised to
look into the matter. We are hopeful that he will oblige."
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis & Censor Chief Pahlaj Nihalani
Added Nihalani, "We also met Mr Sudhir
Mungantiwar (Maharashtra's ex-chief of BJP which is currently a Cabinet
Minister of Finance, Planning, and Forest Departments in the Government of
Maharashtra) and he has assured that Government would stand by One Nation
One Tax and would recommend 12 - 18 % GST instead of 28% and no local body Tax
may be levied, he also said that the Service Tax may be continued so as to support
single screens. "
SpotboyE.com has
it that while this meeting was happening at Varsha, Siddharth Roy Kapur
accompanied by top officials of multiplex chains was meeting Mr Jaitley in
Delhi last night with similar views.
Concluded
Nihalani, "Kamal Haasan and Rajinikanth have also come out to ensure that
the film industry does not get affected adversely by the GST. I heard that
Haasan has met the Kerala CM, Pinarayi Vijayan, in this regard."