Punjab CM wants GST on langar items waived off

Even as Union government maintains its stand on decision to exempt langar, but not its inputs from the ambit of GST, the issue was taken up by Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh who wrote to Finance Minister Arun Jaitely seeking GST exemption on Langar and the prasad distributed at various religious institutions.

Dismayed at Union government's decision to not exempt the ingredients used in preparation of langar (community kitchen) from the tax, Sikh's Apex Body, Sikh Gurdwara Prabhandak Committee (SGPC) has termed the decision "unfortunate" and had appealed to CM Captain Amarinder to take up the issue.

In his letter, Captain Amarinder said that GST payable on sale of prasad is impacting all religious institutions including temples, gurudwaras, mosques and churches.

Highlighting that the demand for GST exemption by managements of religious institutions was fair and should be acceded by the government, Singh said, "The levy of GST on goods purchased by religious institutions was not fair as these institutions did not have any source of income and are managed with finances raised through donations."

The gurdwaras in Punjab had been exempted from the payment of VAT on goods brought by them for serving food in free kitchens. However, under the new GST regime, tax is payable on the purchase of these goods.

Captain Amarinder urged the Finance Minister to reconsider the matter and exempt all religious institutions from payment of GST, not only prasad but also on goods purchased by them for serving Langar.