GST will benefit healthcare sector: CII

New Delhi: The Goods and Services Tax (GST) will benefit the healthcare sector and promote local manufacturing, industry body CII said today.

The GST, India's biggest tax reform since Independence, is scheduled to be rolled out from July 1.

"This is a breakthrough tax reform and one of the biggest major milestones for the country and its industries. We are confident that the GST would boost the local manufacturing sector...", CII Medical Technology Division Chairman Himanshu Baid told PTI.

The entire healthcare industry will profit from the GST implementation as it would diminish the complexities and various obstacles in the business growth, he added.

Given the current rate on medical devices, which is VAT plus service tax plus octroi (in some locations), the GST on most medical devices shall fall at 12 per cent bar, which will be about 1.5 per cent less than current rates, Baid said.

Industry will be encouraged by this to achieve lower costs of manufacturing and the advantages of cost reduction are likely to get passed on to consumers, he added.

Commenting in the same vein, Wockhardt Hospitals President Anupam Verma said: "The healthcare Industry would profit from the GST implementation as it would diminish the complexities and various obstacles to the growth of business".

Healthcare sector is on the way of expanded profitability and promising development, he added.