States are not in favour of increasing GST rates at a time when there is a consumption slowdown and it is not the right time to bring down the number of slabs under the Goods and Services Tax (GST), Sushil Kumar Modi, Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar and Convenor of Group of Ministers on IGST, said on Saturday.
There is no possibility of any change in the Goods and Services Tax (GST) rates till the revenue stabilises, Modi said while speaking on the theme 'India: Roadmap to a USD 5 trillion economy' at FICCI's 92nd Annual Convention here.
"I want to assure you that not a single state... (and) the union government is ready to raise the tax rates," he said.
"At a time when the economy is in a slowdown, if you cannot cut the tax rate to boost consumption, do not increase the rates too. At these times you cut the duties and tax rates, and not increase them," Modi said.
On the chances of any reduction in GST rates, he said, "Till the time GST revenue does not stabilise, we cannot think of decreasing the tax rates. In fact, there is no possibility of any change in slabs and tax rates, hike or cut, in the near future."