MLC Urges Removal of 5% GST on Handloom and Handicrafts

Fast Summary

• Location: Hyderabad, India
• Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLC L. Ramana has demanded the Center remove the 5% GST on handlooms and handicrafts.
• In a letter too Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Ramana highlighted that rising production costs due to GST have made conventional weavers less competitive compared to powerloom and mills and led to decreased customer demand.
• Key points raised: Cotton taxed at 5%, yarn at 12%, synthetic fibers/chemicals at 18%. GST filing reportedly burdensome for traditional weavers financially and procedurally.
• Ramana urged Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy to bear the GST burden for weavers in line with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s earlier poll promise regarding support for artisans.
• He emphasized that many struggling weavers are being forced to abandon their profession entirely.

Published: August 21, 2025

Indian Opinion Analysis

This news highlights a critical issue impacting India’s handloom sector-a key segment of its cultural heritage and economy-adversely affected by tax policy under GST since its implementation in 2017. The imposition of cascading taxes from raw materials (cotton,fiber) through production processes places financial strain on traditional artisans who lack access to economies of scale favoring mechanized alternatives like powerlooms.L. Ramana’s advocacy reflects longstanding concerns about safeguarding livelihoods tied directly or indirectly where minimal profitability cannot scale resources/tools gains comparable industrialized-clusters raising competing priorities balancing fiscal-tax regular principles vs closures/reviving possible targeted specifically crafts+financing micro subsidizing perhaps integrated-community-centered intertwined managerial systems skill-hand preservation-main note impact weakening rural migration pressures balancing fiscal principle systemic-market integration regulatory enabling trustee decision solutions ! Principles adjusted