Kerala: Contractors' protest march against GST

Thiruvananthapuram: Contractors have decided to take a protest march against the 18% GST imposed on civil works. Members of All Kerala LSGD Contractors' Coordination Committee will assemble in front of the Secretariat to stage a protest similar to the one held in front of all Corporations on September 26. The contractors have not been taking up any work after July 1, when GST came into being.

“We get just 10% profit, and we need to pay 18% GST. The government has not taken any action even though we have been bringing this up for months now,” said C. Jayachandran, chairman of the committee during a press meet.  There are over 1000  civil works pending in Thiruvananthapuram and about 800 in Kochi because of the strike. “We are told that we will get input tax credit. However that is no consolation, when our profit margin was as low as 10%,” said vice-chairman V.R. Rajesh.

They have had meetings with all corporation mayors. In Thiruvananthapuram, Mayor V.K. Prasanth had assured them that they will not have to bear the GST, but the state will have to issue an order in this regard. Recently at a council meeting he said that while city corporation will be able to afford the increased expenditure, smaller municipalities and panchayaths might not be able to do so. “The government order is being delayed to take into account the condition of all local bodies,” he had said.