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Ever since the launch of GST on 1 July 2017 — it is just some days away from its first anniversary — the solar industry is in a tight grip of uncertainty. GST payments that the government had promised to many exporters, importers and related companies are delayed throughout India. The industry stakeholders are perturbed by the uncertainty surrounding the GST rates on many goods and services.
As of now, the local small and medium companies are disadvantaged greatly, with around INR 30 million stuck in GST refunds. This has caused a spurt in the operational costs for these companies, bringing their businesses to a halt. While the smaller companies are troubled by this, the small
refunds and their delays do not matter anyway for the bigger companies.
According to a stakeholder that was asked about the current problems for smaller companies under GST laws, there is 13-14 per cent stuck in the extra working capital into the projects that the small companies are not going to get anyway. The refund process is very bad; it is smooth only for the exporters in the Indian market. Many small company owners are not sure when they will get the refund. Only the bigger companies that are into several sectors can get the refund and they can use it in other sectors. Smaller companies cannot do such things.
In addition, lack of clarity over GST rates has been detrimental to the smaller solar companies because the 5% or 18% rate is very confusing. The stakeholder concluded that the authorities have to solve the GST anomaly immediately.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]