A Cabinet committee on economic affairs has approved a budgetary support scheme under the GST regime, to eligible units located in states such as Jammu & Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and North Eastern States including Sikkim.

The committee chaired by Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, granted a support of Rs. 27,413 crore for the scheme. Industrial units located in these states will be able to avail the benefit of central excise exemption prior to coming into force of GST regime.

The scheme will be operational from July 1 2017 to March 31 2027. An estimated 4284 are eligible and will benefit from the scheme.

To promote industrialization the government has already implemented the North East Industrial and Investment Promotion Policy (NEIIPP) 2007 for North Eastern States including Sikkim as well as a package for special category states for Jammu & Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh.

The NEIIPP 2007 and Package for Special Category States schemes were excise duty exemption for first 10 years after commencement of commercial production.

Post repeal of the Central excise duty laws, the Government, according to a report has decided to refund the central share of CGST (Central GST) and IGST (Integrated GST) to the affected eligible industrial units for the residual period in the States of North Eastern region and Himalayan States.

The DIPP (Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion) will notify the Scheme, including detailed operational guidelines for implementation of the scheme within 6 weeks.