West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to waive all kinds of taxes on medicines and clinical equipment used for the treatment of Covid-19 patients.
Pointing out that the sudden rise in the number of Covid-19 cases in the country and in Bengal has led to a sharp increase in demands of life-saving drugs and oxygen, the Chief Minister stated that several donors and agencies have approached the state government to consider exemption from taxes such as customs duty and GST. She stated that several organizations and individuals have come forward to donate vital equipment such as oxygen concentrators and cylinders to the state government.
“However, many of the donors and agencies have approached the State Government to consider exemption of these items from customs duty/SGST/CGST/IGST,” stated Mamata.
She urged the Centre that since the rate structure comes under its purview it should consider exempting these items from GST, customs duty and other such constraints to help “remove supply constraints” of these medicines and equipment.
The development comes a day after the Chief Minister alleged that the Covid-19 crisis in the country became so severe because of the inaction of the Centre in the last six months.
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