Buzz of increasing GST rates everywhere except my office, says Sitharaman

Ahead of the crucial meeting of the GST Council, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday said the buzz of an increase in GST rates is everywhere other than her office.

She was responding to a question on talk of current Goods and Services Tax (GST) rates of 5, 12, 18 and 28 per cent being raised to make up for the fall in revenues that has even hampered giving compensation to states for loss of revenue from implementation of the indirect tax regime.

"Buzz is everywhere other than my office," she remarked.

Sitharaman, however, did not rule out a hike in GST rates, saying her ministry is yet to apply its mind to it.

Speaking on onion prices, she said, "We have a group of ministers meeting which is reviewing the situation and is deciding on how to take up the import-related issues. I think gradually, the crop has also started replenishing. The government is doing its best to import the commodity and resolve the issue."

The finance minister said that economic reforms so far were showing their impact.

Revenue Secretary Ajay Bhushan Pandey said that the impact of the corporate tax reduction would be known by December 15, the last date of payment of advance tax.

Sitharaman also slammed Rahul Gandhi for making a "horrendous" statement saying it was a matter of shame that the senior Congress leader was speaking by forgetting about the dignity of women.

When asked by a reporter about Gandhi's comment at a public meeting in Jharkhand that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised 'Make in India' but "wherever you see now you find 'rape in India'".

She said Gandhi made a "horrendous" statement and she could have used it to divert attention from the economy.

"It is a matter of shame that a senior leader of Congress party speaks forgetting dignity of women," she added.