ASHC to approach Union finance ministry for exemption of Siddha medicines from GST

Chennai, October 1, 2021:

 

The Association of Tamil Nadu Siddha Hospitals and Clinics (ASHC) has decided to press the Union finance ministry once again to consider their memorandum they submitted to the government four years ago demanding exemption of Siddha medicines from the purview of goods and services tax (GST).

 

The office-bearers of the association have requested an appointment with the Union finance minister to discuss the matter and to submit a reminder seeking complete waiver of tax for Siddha drugs and their raw materials. The leaders will also apprise the Union Ayush Minister of their grievances and the advantages once their demand is fulfilled. Once the stream of medicines is exempted from GST, more companies will manufacture the drugs which can be sold at lower prices, they hope.

 

Besides, ASHC wants the government to declare the Siddha system of medicines as a category of “minority medicines” as it is only available and practiced in Tamil Nadu. All other Ayush streams are practiced all over the country including Tamil Nadu. Siddha needs special status and recognition among other traditional medicines, said Dr Jay Venkatesh, president of the association.

 

After implementation of GST across the country in July 2017, all Ayush medicines fell under the slab of 5 % GST. Before implementing the tax, Siddha system was exempted from all kinds of taxes, whereas other streams in the Ayush were being levied a certain percent.  The roll out of goods and services tax also put the proprietary medicines (branded) under a slab of 12% which is applicable for Ayurveda, Unani, Homoeo and Siddha.

 

The demand of the ASHC was hailed by the Chennai based multi-state cooperative society, IMPCOPS, whose president Dr M Kannan said this demand was first raised by him three years ago and he had given a letter to the Union finance minister marking copy to the Ayush ministry. According to him, both the classical and proprietary Siddha medicines should be brought out of the purview of GST. Dr Kannan said he will also join the ASHC team to visit the Union finance minister if appointment is given by the minister’s office.

 

Associations supporting Siddha and medicinal plants cultivators raise one more demand on the GST issue. According to Dr T T Narayan, secretary of Centre for Traditional Medicines and Research (CTMR) in Chennai, while responding on the issue said mere cutting GST rate for Siddha medicines will not fetch much result, but the government should slash the tax for raw materials including herbs and plants. The manufacturers of Siddha drugs suffer a lot due to GST. Crude drugs, packing materials and plastic bottles are levied huge GST.

 

“Government wants to encourage medicinal plant cultivation to protect the wild resources and biodiversity. So, all those herbs which are cultivated need to be exempted from levying tax. Otherwise, the cultivators will find it difficult to grow and transport to various places for supply to industry”, said Dr Narayan.PharmaBiz