On Tuesday, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman stated that the GST Council is currently deliberating on the taxation policy for online gaming. She expressed confidence that the sector will attract investment once the policy is finalised.
Sitharaman was responding to a question from a Korean gaming company, Krafton, about India’s plans to attract foreign investment in gaming companies. The minister explained that the discussion is ongoing at the ministerial level within the GST Council, covering various aspects of online gaming such as taxation and regulation.
The GST Council is led by Sitharaman and includes finance ministers from different states.
“Once policy certainty arrives and taxation becomes clearer, it will attract investors,” Sitharaman told the Indian diaspora in Seoul.
The number of online gaming users in India surged during the Covid lockdown, and the sector is expected to grow to Rs 29,000 crore by 2024-25, up from Rs 13,600 crore in 2021, according to a KPMG report.
The controversial issue of levying Goods and Services Tax (GST) on online games has been under consideration for almost two years, with several states advocating for a lower tax rate on skill-based online games and arguing that such games should not be treated the same as games of chance. A final decision on online gaming taxation is anticipated to be taken by the GST Council at its next meeting, which is likely to be held either this month or in June.
Last month, the Ministry of Electronics and IT notified new guidelines for the online gaming sector prohibiting all games involving betting and wagering. The sector will adhere to a self-regulation model and will initially notify three self-regulatory organizations (SROs) that will approve games adhering to local rules in India.
Responding to Krafton’s question, Sitharaman, in a light-hearted vein, stated that she enjoys watching memes and animes from Japan and Korea, and that she would like them to come to India. “The mastery with which the story is woven generates so much positivity,” she stated. “That’s what we want for adults today.”
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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