GST Council meet: JK CM Abdullah seeks central support for terror-hit economy
GST
Dated:- 3-9-2025
PTI
New Delhi, Sep 3 (PTI) Highlighting the devastating impact of the Pahalgam terror attack on the economy of Jammu and Kashmir, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday sought the Centre's support to deal with the situation.
The Union Territory was facing a severe fiscal crisis as its public revenues had “collapsed” in the aftermath of the April 22 terror attack in which 26 people were killed, he said.
Abdullah, who also holds the finance portfolio, told the 56th GST Council meeting here, that major economic sectors including tourism, handicrafts, agriculture and horticulture had come to a standstill after the attack.
Proposed GST reforms could further reduce the UT's revenue by 10 to 12 per cent, the Chief Minister said.
He was of the view that the GST Council could go ahead with rate rationalisation proposals, but suitable mechanisms should be devised to compensate st
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of our country,” he said.
Abdullah stated that the GST reforms must consider the unique challenges faced by individual states and UTs.
He detailed how the local economy had been gaining renewed vigour before being “shocked” by the “Pahalgam incident” of April 2025. This event, and its aftermath, have brought major economic sectors—including tourism, handicraft, horticulture, and agriculture — to a standstill.
The chief minister also urged Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman-headed GST Council to address the “geopolitical challenges” facing the country and the severe fiscal pressures on his region following the terror attack.
He talked about substantial loss of jobs and businesses, and a decline in public revenues. “Today, all the sectors of economic activity, including tourism, handicraft, horticulture and agriculture are badly affected. The flight of non-local workers has slowed down development of infrastructure projects,” the chief minister said.
Fully endorsing the two-t
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c issues, noting that the country's growth path is “suddenly challenged by geopolitical challenges” and also pointed to “whimsical trade policies of the colonial era” that he said could restrict India's access to 20 per cent of the global market, affecting thousands of workers in sectors like agriculture, handicraft, and gems and jewellery.
Asserting that the GST, introduced in July 2017, remains the most ambitious federal tax reform in India's fiscal history, he said that through these eight years, several steps and initiatives have been taken in tax structure, administrative mechanism, and technology frontier to improve efficiency and revenue mobilisation from GST as also to facilitate honest taxpayers and dealers.
“The past year has been nothing but challenging for Jammu and Kashmir and for the entire nation. At the national level, we see our growth path suddenly challenged by geopolitical challenges.
“Our economy is steadily accelerating at 6–7 per cent growth rate. We have incr
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