Bhubaneswar: The BJD on Thursday demanded complete GST exemption on kendu leaf and handloom products and asked the Centre to compensate the estimated revenue loss of Rs 1,000 crore per month towards the change in the goods and services tax slabs.

Addressing a press conference here, BJD senior vice presidents and former ministers Debi Prasad Mishra and Niranjan Pujari said though the GST on handloom products has been reduced to 5 per cent from 18 per cent, it should be completely exempted in the larger interest of the tribal and Dalit people engaged in the collection of the kendu leaf.

The BJD leaders said they had been demanding complete GST exemption on kendu leaves and handloom products since 2018, and it has not been accepted. Former chief minister Naveen Patnaik had written letters to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman requesting the same. However, that has not been accepted, they said. Pujari, a former finance minister, said just like kendu leaves, in the handloom sector, the BJD has consistently demanded GST exemption, keeping in mind the interests of weavers, especially in the handloom sector. “While power looms are dominated by industrialists, handloom products are crafted by poor weavers who create various cotton and silk sarees. These artisans belong to the economically weaker sections, and to encourage and support them, a GST exemption has been a longstanding demand,” he said.