Amid calls for full exemption of goods and services tax (GST) on vaccines, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday said that a complete waiver may lead to a rise in their prices, impacting the common man. Responding to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's letter to the Prime Minister seeking support to improve the health infrastructure, along with removal of GST and customs duty from life-saving drugs and equipment, Sitharaman noted that vaccine makers would not be beneficiaries of input tax credit in case GST is exempted.

The Finance Minister was of the view that a "nominal 5 per cent GST is in the interest of the domestic manufacturer of vaccine and in the interest of the citizens". "If full exemption from GST is given, vaccine manufacturers would not be able to offset their input taxes and would pass them on to the end consumer/citizen by increasing the price," she said.