Chandigarh, June 2: The Goods and Services tax (GST) levied on langar sewa by religious institutions would be refunded, announced Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal on Friday.

The decision by Centre came in the backdrop of repeated pleas by Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) and Lucknow Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, which have been preparing langars at various gurudwaras in northern India.

The Golden Temple, SGPC claims, has paid over Rs 2 crore in form of GST between July 2017 to January 2018.

The tax-waiver was approved after President Ram Nath Kovind gave his assent to the 'Special Financial Assistance for Sewa Bhoj Yojana'. As per the legislation, Minister Badal said, all religious institutions would be refunded the IGST and CGST paid on langar sewa.

Although the GST is not levied on food served in langar, the tax is imposed on raw materials procured for the langar preparation. The items used for the langar preparation are sugar, ghee, dry fruits, tea and LPG. The SGPC had demanded a tax-waiver on the major ingredients.

The Golden Temple, which prepares the world's largest langar, serves between 55,000 and 60,000 devotees per day. The SGPC incurs an annual bill of Rs 75 crore for the food served to pilgrims at the Sikh heritage temple.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 02, 2018 01:18 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).