Power, coal,renewable energy and mines minister Piyush Goyal today welcomed the GST council’s decision to keep coal in the lowest tax slab of 5 percent and said a higher tax slab of 18 percent for solar modules will not impact solar power tariffs.
The GST Council on Thursday fixed 5 percent tax against the current tax incidence of 11.69 percent for coal. Goyal, however, said a higher tax slab of 18 percent for solar modules will not impact solar power tariffs.
Tariffs for solar projects vary from project to project. The rise will be compensated by the decline in corruption and operational difficulties, Goyal said, adding that the government does not need lower tax rates to ensure the growth of solar power sector.
The government aims to scale up India’s solar power capacity to 100,000 Megawatt by 2022. This will be part of the 175,000 Mw renewable energy target that the government wants to achieve.
The minister said the prices of solar and wind energy have hit record low and the industry is now able to stand on its own feet without any support.
By Baishakhi Dutta
