Winning Bizness Economic Desk
PoK Part of India, No GST on Trade: J&K High Court
The Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) High Court has ruled that trade between Jammu and Kashmir and Pak Occupied Kashmir (PoK) is intra-state trade and, therefore, no Goods and Services Tax (GST) can be levied on it.
Though cross-LoC trade remains suspended due to the hostilities between India and Pakistan since 2019, the ruling by a division bench is reaffirmation of the government’s stand that PoK is a part of Jammu and Kashmir and an integral part of the country.
Even after the scrapping of Article 370, the J&K assembly continues to have 24 vacant seats reserved for PoK. As per the erstwhile constitution of J&K, the entire state including PoK is an integral part of India.
Here, the point that requires highlighting is that J&K’s separate constitution was also scrapped with the revocation of Article 370.
The High Court, while considering petitions from traders across the LoC, said cross LoC trade between J&K and PoK was intra-state because the PoK is a part of J&K.
“Therefore, the location of suppliers and the place of supply of goods were within the then State of Jammu Kashmir. The cross-LoC trade affected by the petitioners during the relevant tax period was nothing but intra state trade,” said the division bench of Justice Sanjeev Kumar and Justice Sanjay Parihar.
The petitioners had challenged the show-cause notice issued by the Superintendent CGST.
They argued that when trade began in 2008, intra-state sales tax was governed by the Jammu and Kashmir Value-Added Taxes Act, which exempts cross-LoC trade from tax.
In 2017 when the GST regime was introduced, the authorities commenced investigations to determine whether the petitioners had paid GST on their outward and inward supplies and show-cause notices were issued to them.
The petitioners had challenged the notices on the ground that cross-LoC trade regulated by the GoI’s SOP issued on October 20, 2008, constitutes intra-state trade and is, therefore, exempt from the provisions of the CGST Act.
They further stated that even if intra-state trade were assumed, demand for tax would be invalid because it involved a barter system with no monetary exchange.
Gross GST Collections Clock Only Marginal Growth in November
India’s gross Goods and Services Tax (GST) revenue registered a sub-1 per cent annualised growth to Rs 1.70-lakh-crore in November of this year.
In the same month last year (2024), the GST collection stood at Rs 1,69,016-crore—it was the lowest in the first eight-months of 2025-26.
While collections registered a slight moderation, it is expected to be a short-term phenomenon and was expected.
However, despite the marginal moderation, private consumption increased robustly, keeping up the collection.
The lower GST rates kicked-in from September 22, 2025 and last month reflects the actual business transactions in October, the first full month after the rates rationalisation.
Cess in November slid southward sharply by 69 per cent to Rs 4,006-crore as compared to Rs 12,950-crore in the same month of the previous year (2024), according to the latest data released by the finance ministry.
The GST rate rationalisation also witnessed the removal of the compensation cess on luxury items except for sin goods like pan masala and tobacco goods.
The gross revenue in the first eight-months (April-to-November 2025) of the current financial year registered around nine per cent growth to over Rs 14.75-lakh-crore as compared to Rs 13.55-lakh-crore in April-to-November 2024, according to the data.
The net GST revenue after refunds clocked a small 1.3 per cent northward movement to Rs 1,52,079-crore as compared to Rs 1,50,062-crore in the same month of the previous year.
Refunds in November this year witnessed a four per cent decline to Rs 18,196-crore as compared to Rs 18,954-crore in the year-ago month.
The cumulative net collections in the April-to-November 2025 period climbed up by 7.3 per cent to Rs 12,79,434-crore as against Rs 11,92,455-crore in the April-to-November 2024.
Karnataka Minister Calls for MSP on Natural Rubber
Top Congress leader and minister Mr Dinesh Gundu Rao (DGR) has called for immediate steps to include natural rubber in the list of mandated agricultural crops and to fix a Minimum Support Prices (MSP) or Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) for it.
The Karnataka leader has written a letter to this effect to the Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Mr Piyush Goyal.
Mr Gundu Rao said that farmers from Dakshina Kannada were engaged in rubber cultivation, and due to market instability, they were facing hardships. The cost of production is more than the demand price, causing great difficulty to the farmers.
What requires highlighting here is that natural rubber has been excluded from the list of agricultural crops for which the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices recommends the MSP.
This, it must be noted, is the reason that there is no MSP for rubber in the country even though commercial crops such as jute and copra are included. This has exacerbated the situation for natural rubber farmers.
Last year, the Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare had stated in the Lok Sabha that natural rubber cannot be treated as an agricultural product since it is exclusively used as a raw material for industrial purpose.
This has resulted in farmers being dependent only on the market and any slight fluctuations result in grave adverse financial effects and distress to Dakshina Kannda farmers.
India’s Sugar Output Zooms 43 pc in Oct-Nov
India’s sugar production climbed up steeply by 43 per cent in October-November of this year to 4.11-million tonnes in the first two months of the 2025-26 marketing year, propelled by strong output from Maharashtra, the Indian Sugar and Bio-Energy Manufacturers Association (ISMA) said.
Production stood at 2.88-million tonnes in the same period a year earlier. Here, it is to be noted that the marketing year runs from October to September.
“Field-level feedback points to healthier cane yields and better sugar recovery rates across key states versus last year, as sugarcane crushing gains momentum across the country,” ISMA said in a statement.
The number of operating factories climbed up to 428 this year from 376 in the year-ago period.
Production in Uttar Pradesh (UP), the country’s largest sugar producing state, reached 1.40-million tonnes through November, up from 1.28-million tonnes a year earlier.
The output in Maharashtra, the second largest sugar producing state, climbed up sharply to 1.69-million tonnes from 4,60,000-tonnes in the year-ago period.
In the southern state of Karnataka, the third largest sugar producing state, production slid from 8,12,000-tonnes to 7,74,000-tonnes despite crushing operations gaining pace after early disruptions due to farmer protests, ISMA said.
The western and southern states of Gujarat and Tamil Nadu, produced 92,000-tonnes and 35,000-tonnes, respectively, so far this year.
ISMA called for an increase in the Minimum Statutory Price (MSP) of sugar, which has remained unchanged for over six-years despite production costs moving northward.
“An increased MSP is essential to ensure fair returns to mills and timely payment to farmers,” ISMA said.
The industry body has projected a net sugar production of 30.95-million tonnes for 2025-26, excluding diversion for ethanol making, compared with actual output of 26.11-million tonnes in the previous year.
