DRMumbai: The Civil Aviation Ministry is likely to approach the GST Council soon for bringing aviation turbine fuel (ATF) under the tax regime. An indication to this effect was given by a senior official of an airline following a meeting with Jayant Sinha, Minister of State for Civil Aviation.
The meeting was attended by Pradeep Singh Kharola, CMD, Air India; B P Sharma, CMD, Pawan Hans, the CEO of a private airline and the CFOs of other carriers. “We have given our suggestion to the ministry and the minister is likely to meet the GST Council soon to present our case,” the senior airline official said. While various other issues facing the airline industry were raised by the industry, the prominent one was the inclusion of ATF under the GST regime.
Currently, jet fuel or ATF is not under the GST ambit and the levy on it varies from state to state. ATF accounts for a significant chunk of an airline’s operational costs, which also has an impact on air ticket prices. During the last winter session of Parliament, Sinha in a written reply informed that his ministry had requested the Finance Ministry to include aviation ATF in the ambit of the GST regime with full input tax credit at the earliest.
The long-standing demand for a slash in the GST rate in the aviation maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) industry was also discussed, said another official on the condition of anonymity. GST is currently levied at 18 per cent on the MRO industry. The MRO Association of India has warned that the industry could face a closure if the GST “anomaly is not set right”.
