Siddaramaiah bats for print media, seeks removal of GST on newsprint

Karnataka Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to remove the GST levy on printing paper, making a case for the survival of print media.

“It is the duty of any government to ensure the survival of this pillar of democracy through necessary reforms,” Siddaramaiah stated in a letter to PM Modi.

“The tax on printing paper for the Registrar of Newspapers of India (RNI) registered agencies before GST was at 3%, and it was increased to 5% under the GST system. This is an increase of 68% in taxes on printing paper,” the Congress leader pointed out.

“GST for unregistered agencies is at 12%. As there is no mechanism to differentiate between registered and unregistered agencies at the purchasing point, the unregistered agencies are purchasing printing paper at 5% instead of 12%, creating a shortage of papers for registered agencies. This shortage has also resulted in the increase in the cost of printing papers as well,” he explained.

The “drastic increase” in printing prices is due to supply chain disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, labour shortage, raw material cost, shortage of shipping containers and fuel price hike, Siddaramaiah said.

“The cost of one ton of imported printing paper was $300 or Rs 23,000 before the pandemic, and it has reached about $700-800 or Rs.55,000-60,000. About 56% of paper was imported and 44% was manufactured domestically,” he said.

“Most of the imports are from Russia and Europe, and with the ongoing war, the disruption has increased drastically. It has to be noted that most of the newspaper agencies depend on imported paper for quality reasons as domestically manufactured papers are mostly from the recycling process,” Siddaramaiah said, adding that the cost of printing paper has doubled in two years and the increase in GST “caused a huge burden on print media houses” to sustainably continue operations.

The former chief minister hailed print media as “a force that could mobilise millions of people for the cause of Indians” and newspapers enabled the “fight against imperial forces to establish a democratic system in India” and that it has become “an important pillar of democracy”.

Besides removing GST on printing paper, Siddaramaiah urged PM Modi to differentiate between registered and unregistered agencies at the time of purchasing newsprint and “provide the incentive to printing paper units that manufacture quality paper from cellulose fibres”.