Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman, who is on a visit to Tripura, inaugurated the ‘GST Bhawan,’ a project for CGST, CX, and Customs Office, Agartala, Guwahati Zone under CBIC, at Agartala on Friday.

Addressing the August gathering, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman congratulated the people of Tripura on the inauguration of GST Bhawan. She emphasized the importance of good infrastructure, which can be leveraged to serve taxpayers better, resulting in improved revenue collection.

The building will help the general citizens to come and get facilitated in GST-related matters. It increases the accessibility of officers to the public. It will help the common citizens to come and get facilitated in GST-related matters, she said.

During the address, the finance minister also highlighted that the Introduction of GST has brought about positive changes in the Northeast and Tripura in particular regarding the tax collection.

Before the GST was introduced Tripura received only Rs 4.21 crore as Central Sales Tax (CST) in FY 2016-17, whereas the state collected Rs 982.50 crore IGST in FY 2022-23 from Inter-State trade.

The project was completed in time despite two waves of COVID-19 affecting work and within stipulated timelines of agreement. The project is estimated to cost Rs. 28 crore. The plot of 0.71 acres has a built-up area of 3,000 sq. mtrs or 32,300 sq. ft. Thus, the average cost of construction is pegged at Rs. 93,333/- per sq. mts or Rs. 8,668/- Sq feet. There are a total of 8 floors, including the ground floor in the GST Bhawan, and houses various modern facilities. In addition, it houses the office of customs.