GST Council approves turning GSTN into a government entity

NEW DELHI: The GST Council has approved making GST Network (GSTN) a government entity by taking over 51 per cent stake held by private entities, Finance Minister Arun Jaitleysaid on Friday at the end of the 27th meeting of the council.



Currently, the government holds 49 per cent stake in GSTN- the IT backbone that carries out GST operations. "Eventually central govt should hold 50 per cent and state governments will hold 50 per cent collectively. The collective share of state governments will be pro-rata divided among the states as per their GST ratios," Jaitley said. 

In another important development, the council has referred the issue of giving 2 per cent incentive for digital payments of GST liability to a five-member committee. The incentive once in place, should encourage more people to transact digitally.

Jaitley also stated that the GST Council members have expressed satisfaction over the revenue generated since the roll out of the new tax regime. "There were several items on the agenda and detailed discussion on the first year's revenue collection. Members expressed satisfaction over revenue growth," he said.

The Union Finance Minister-chaired council, comprising state finance ministers, met through video conferencing. The meeting comes at a time when GST collections achieved its record high by exceeding Rs 1 lakh crore milestone in April.