GST rate on coal, solar not to impact on tariffs: Piyush Goyal

Welcoming the GST council's decision to keep coal in the lowest tax slab of 5 per cent, Union Power and Coal Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday said it will bring down the power costs.

"The entire GST regime has been designed to being down the cost of goods and aims at one nation, one tax to reduce corruption. I am happy that the GST Council decided to
keep coal in 5% tax slab. It will help bring down costs," Goyal told reporters here.

The GST Council on Thursday fixed 5% cent tax against the current tax incidence of 11.69%.

However, the Minister dismissed the apprehension that a higher tax slab of 18% for solar modules will have impact solar power tariffs.

"Tariffs for solar projects vary from project to project. The rise will be compensated by the decline in corruption and operational difficulties," he said.

The prices of solar and wind energy have hit record low and the industry is now able to stand on its own feet without any support, he said.

The Minister said there will not be any negative impact on consumers due to imposition of higher tax on inverters as dependence on such equipments may not be much in coming days as electricity distribution companies are working on providing uninterrupted power supply.