The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council in its 14th meeting held on 18-19 May, 2017 approved the constitution of eighteen sectoral groups to ensure smooth roll-out of GST.

The Council has received reports from sixteen out of the eighteen sectoral groups. The GST Law Committee comprising of officers of the Central and State Governments have drafted guidance notes based on these reports for some of the sectors.

The eighteen sectoral groups are as follows –

i.        Banking, Financial and Insurance Sector

ii.       Telecommunication

iii.      Exports including EOUs and SEZs

iv.      IT/ITES

v.       Transport and Logistics

vi.      Textiles and Footwear

vii.     MSMEs, including job work

viii.     Oil and Gas (upstream and downstream)

ix.      Gems and Jewellery

x.       Services received and provided by the Government

xi.      Food Processing Sector

xii.     E-commerce

xiii.    Big infrastructure (Airports & Sea ports including Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul, Power Sector, Housing, Construction and Highways)

xiv.     Travel and tourism

xv.     Handicrafts (Exports)

xvi.    Media and Entertainment

xvii.   Drugs and pharmaceuticals

xviii.  Mining

Each sectoral group has obtained feedback from the trade and industry and also held meetings with the various stakeholders and various JS level nodal officers from various ministries. The contact details of the co-conveners of the sectoral groups were also placed in the public domain for members of the trade to send their representations. Based on the inputs received, the sectoral groups have prepared their reports on the basis of which, the Law Committee has finalized Frequently Asked Questions on eight sectors, namely Handicrafts, Mining, Drugs & Pharmaceuticals, e-Commerce, Food Processing, MSME, Exports and Textiles, which clarify several issues/apprehensions of the sectors of industry. These FAQs have been released in public domain.

This was stated by Shri Arun Jaitley, Union Minister for Finance in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.

GST sectoral groups established to advise on sector-specific implementation and publish FAQs clarifying compliance concerns. Constitution of eighteen GST sectoral groups to facilitate roll-out and address sector-specific implementation issues; groups obtained stakeholder feedback, published co-convener contact details, and submitted reports. The GST Law Committee used these reports to draft guidance notes and finalize FAQs for eight sectors to clarify compliance concerns, and these materials were released into the public domain.