Testing the waters!
While the India’s top biotech
company, Biocon’s Chairperson,
Ms Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw had
called it a unique game-changing
opportunity, she later expressed
her disappointment on the way GST
was implemented. She was critical
of the multi- tiered approach used
in the implementation as expressed
in her tweets. She also feared that
the stockists might refuse to stock
the medicines and supply chain
might not be willing to accept
material, leading to drug shortage.
In case of shortage, Ms Shaw told
a TV Channel, “there is going to be
black marketing of drugs and it is a
worrying sign. Pharmacies are not
willing to stock medicines...many of
them said they are not prepared for
GST that is very scary.”
As per Mr Siddharth Surana,
Associate Manager-Tax and
Regulatory, K Vijayaraghavan and
Associates LLP, “Until now, life-
saving drugs that treat diseases like
malaria, HIV-AIDS, tuberculosis,
and diabetes, had been exempted
from excise and customs duties.
BIOVOICENEWS.COM
19