Businessline Millets Conclave: Krishna Ella calls for GST waiver for millets

Businessline Millets Conclave: Krishna Ella calls for GST waiver for millets

One of the key players who helped India tackle the COVID pandemic with his Covaxin (vaccine), chairman of Bharat Biotech Krishna Ella pitched for GST waiver at the NABARD-Businessline Millets Conclave held in Hyderabad on Friday.

“Government should remove GST on millets so that everyone can join the mission on millets,” he said at a fireside chat with Richa Mishra, senior associate editor of Businessline.

His views found support from C. Tara Sathyavathi, director of the Indian Institute of Millets Research, a Centre of Excellence in millets. “If demand for millets can increase rapidly, we can request the government to consider GST waiver,” she said.

Responding to a question on marketing millets, Mr. Ella, who also owns Ella Foods, said that the government and private sector should come together. “Those into millets business are small players who cannot support themselves. If, for example, ITC Ltd makes a millet product and gets GST waiver, everyone will buy the product,” he said.

Stating that NABARD should make the Centre remove GST, he said, “If we ask the Planning Commission (Niti Aayog), they will talk of too many figures.”

Mr. Ella called for a holistic approach to tackle the issue of tax on millets. “Organisations like NABARD should take up issues like 5% GST on packaged millet. Otherwise, representations on this will lead to another paper,” he said. Calling for a different approach to market millets, he said that NABARD should fund a survey on consumers’ millet preference in the European Union and the US.

The survey needs to find out if people need solid fibre or other things. “This will help farmers increase production and export,” he said. “A farmer is the best entrepreneur in the world,” he added.