SME Times News Bureau | 15 Nov, 2018
Exports from the Indian pharmaceutical sector may reach Rs
3,27,700 crores during the current fiscal due to positive impacts of
implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST), said Minister of State for Chemicals
& Fertilizers Mansukh Mandaviya on Thursday.
As per estimates, the export figure for the current year is
likely to be Rs 3,27,700 crore, which will be almost 12% higher than the
export figure of Pre-GST regime (2016-17), said Mandaviya in an official
statement in New Delhi.
Exports from pharma sector during
2016-17 were Rs 2,75,852 crore while post-GST, in the year 2017-18, they were
recorded at Rs 3,03,526 crore, which is 10% higher than the Pre-GST Regime, he
added.
He added that before GST, annual turnover of the sector (as
on 31.05.2017) was Rs 1,14,231 crores while after GST, the annual turnover of
Pharma sector (as on 31.05.2018) touched Rs 1,31,312 crores, which is 6% higher
than the Pre-GST regime.
Impact of Goods and Services Tax (GST) on Pharma sector has
largely been positive and constructive, the minister pointed out.
Further, he informed that there has been a
significant jump in number of drug approvals from
7,857 before GST (01.07.2016 to 30.06.2017) to 10,446 post-GST (01.07.2017 to
30.06.2018).
Elaborating on the reasons for this positive
impact post-GST, Mandaviya said that under the ‘One Nation, One Tax’ regime,
the removal of complexity of multiple taxes has reduced their cascading effect
on the final product.
GST is expected to decrease the manufacturing
cost in view of merging of different taxes levied earlier and promote ease of
doing business. It will create one single market for all stakeholders with equal
chance towards development, he said.
Mandaviya informed that due to discontinuation of
Central Sales Tax post-GST, it will reduce transaction costs, as inter-state
transaction between two dealers will become tax neutral.
Now, the pharma companies can consolidate their
warehouses at strategic locations, effecting a reduction in cost of
distribution. As a result, it will benefit warehouse strategy and improve
supply chain efficiency in pharma sector, the minister explained.
