The size of Cargo exports from Coimbatore airport has come down by as much as 50 tonnes per month due to steep hike in GST. The global economic slowdown also contributing factor to the present scenario say City Airport officials.
Coimbatore: The Coimbatore airport is well connected with flights to Sharjah and Singapore. While flight services to Singapore is operated on all days of the week to Sharjah it is operated on five days a week.
A wide variety of cargo and goods including vegetables, fruits, flowers, food items, engineering goods are exported from Coimbatore to different parts of the country and abroad. But the government has introduced a 18 per cent GST regime on goods exported to foreign countries with effect from October 1, 2020, which is proving a dampner. Resultanlty, the quantity of goods exported from Coimbatore on a monthly basis has drastically come down.
According to City Airport officials just before Covid-19, the Coimbatore airport would handle 1,000 tonnes of cargo at the rate of 750 tonnes in the domestic cargo segment and 250 tonnes in the foreign transport every month.
Till September last year, the export of goods was completely exempted from GST. As per the new regime and from October, 5 per cent GST will be levied on goods exported on ships and 18 per cent on goods exported by aircraft.
Due to this, the sheer quantity of goods being exported from Coimbatore has come down a lot. The global economic slowdown prevailing in european countries also contributed its mite..
"The maximum of one ton of cargo, which has been handled on Singapore flights has come down to half a tonne. Inventory booking is not done for some of the days. The Sharjah flight, which will be operated five days a week, will usually carry 3 or 3.5 tonnes of cargo each time. But, it has come down to two tons due to the imposition of GST. The total quantity of goods handled monthly has come down by up to 50 tonnes" officials said.
"The airline sector has just started recovering from the impact of the Coronavirus outbreak. In such a scenario, the imposition of GST and the global economic slowdown has had a major impact on goods exports, which is a worrying factor".the officials said.
A wide variety of cargo and goods including vegetables, fruits, flowers, food items, engineering goods are exported from Coimbatore to different parts of the country and abroad. But the government has introduced a 18 per cent GST regime on goods exported to foreign countries with effect from October 1, 2020, which is proving a dampner. Resultanlty, the quantity of goods exported from Coimbatore on a monthly basis has drastically come down.
According to City Airport officials just before Covid-19, the Coimbatore airport would handle 1,000 tonnes of cargo at the rate of 750 tonnes in the domestic cargo segment and 250 tonnes in the foreign transport every month.
Till September last year, the export of goods was completely exempted from GST. As per the new regime and from October, 5 per cent GST will be levied on goods exported on ships and 18 per cent on goods exported by aircraft.
Due to this, the sheer quantity of goods being exported from Coimbatore has come down a lot. The global economic slowdown prevailing in european countries also contributed its mite..
"The maximum of one ton of cargo, which has been handled on Singapore flights has come down to half a tonne. Inventory booking is not done for some of the days. The Sharjah flight, which will be operated five days a week, will usually carry 3 or 3.5 tonnes of cargo each time. But, it has come down to two tons due to the imposition of GST. The total quantity of goods handled monthly has come down by up to 50 tonnes" officials said.
"The airline sector has just started recovering from the impact of the Coronavirus outbreak. In such a scenario, the imposition of GST and the global economic slowdown has had a major impact on goods exports, which is a worrying factor".the officials said.