C'garh: Contractors to go on indefinite strike from Saturday

Government recognised contractors in Chhattisgarh will go onan indefinite strike from tomorrow demanding to exemptthe construction works tenders allotted prior to July 1 (2017) from the Goods and Services Tax (GST).
They have also demanded to bring down the slab of 18 per cent GST on construction works to 5 per cent.
"GST on tenders allotted before July 1 is not acceptable to the contractors, nor the 18 per cent GST slab proposed for the construction works.
"To protest this, the (government recognised) contractors have decided to suspend all the ongoing construction works across the state from tomorrow and go on indefinite strike," Biresh Shukla, President of Chhattisgarh Contractors Association (CCA) told reporters here today.

The association wants the government bear the burden of GST implemented on construction works sanctioned before July 1 and not the contractors, he said.
Government construction works worth Rs 10,000 crore allottedbefore the implementation of GST is underway in the state.

Earlier, the agreement rate was finalised based on 2 per cent sales tax. Now if 18 per cent GST will be imposed on these works, the contractors would have to suffer an additional burden of around Rs 1,800 crore thereby causing a huge loss to them, Shukla said.
Hence, either the state government or the Centre should bear this additional burden, he said.

He further claimed that contractors were not consulted even once before fixing the GST rate for construction works before its implementation and demanded that the GST slab on the construction works should be brought to 5 per cent from the proposed 18 per cent.
The CCA has also raised several other demands including to control the increasing prices of minor minerals like sand, gitti (metal stone) and murum after the implementing the new tax rate, he added.
"The contractors are facing serious problem after the implementation of GST and if our demands are not fulfilled, we will boycott the tenders floated for new construction works," he added.