Centre waives tax, import duty to tune of Rs 6 cr on infant's imported medicines

The Union government has waived import duty and GST of Rs 6 crore on medicines for a five-month-old girl suffering from a rare medical condition, BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis said on Tuesday. Teera Kamat, admitted to a suburban hospital, suffers from Spinal Muscular Atrophy in which a complete breakdown of nerve cells results in zero control over muscle movement.

Her parents, Priyanka and Mihir Kamat had written on social media about their child’s fight with a debilitating ailment, leading to fundraising as well as appeals to the Union government to waive import duty and GST on medicines. Among the medicines is Zolgensma which targets the root cause of SMA and which has to be imported.

In their social media appeals, Teera’s parents had said that 23 percent import duty and 12 percent GST added Rs 6 crore to the cost of Rs 16 crore that the treatment entails. Fadnavis, on February 1, had written to the Centre requesting a waiver of import duty and GST.