PM Narendra Modi hails recommendations of GST Council, says it will strengthen the tax regime

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday hailed the recommendations made by the GST Council and said that it will further benefit the people and strengthen the tax regime.

Modi also said public participation was at the core of the government's functioning and that all its decisions were "people-friendly and people-centric".

The PM took to Twitter and tweeted his reactions on the decision taken by the GST Council today.

The recommendations made by the GST Council today will further benefit our citizens and add strength to the GST. These recommendations are in spirit of the continuous feedback we are getting from various stakeholders on GST. — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) November 10, 2017

"The recommendations made by the GST Council today will further benefit our citizens and add strength to the GST. These recommendations are in the spirit of the continuous feedback we are getting from various stakeholders on GST," he tweeted.

PM Modi stressed that the government was working "tirelessly" for the country's economic integration.

Reactions from the PM came shortly after the GST Council decided to cut tax rates on over 200 items, ranging from chewing gum to chocolates, to beauty products, wigs, and wrist watches.

The measures were taken to provide relief to consumers and businesses amid the economic slowdown, the GST Council.

The Council met in Assam's Guwahati earlier in the day.

As many as 178 items of daily use were shifted from the top tax bracket of 28 percent to 18 percent, while a uniform 5 percent tax was prescribed for all restaurants, both air-conditioned and non-AC, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said after the GST Council meeting.

Currently, 12 percent GST on food bill is levied in non-AC restaurants and 18 percent in the air-conditioned ones. All these got input tax credit, a facility to set off tax paid on inputs with final tax.

The GST, implemented from July 1, has five tax slabs of 0 percent, 5 percent, 12 percent, 18 percent and 28 percent. 

With PTI inputs