Rs 6.5 crore tax on medicine worth Rs 18 crore; Elamaram Kareem asks Centre to intervene and waive taxes

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Rajya Sabha member Elamaram Kareem MP has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting him to waive import duty and GST on Zolgensma medicine required for the treatment of one-and-a-half-year-old Muhammed, who contracted a rare disease in Kannur. The Zolgensmadrug is priced at around Rs 18 crore. When 23 percent import duty and 12 percent GST are added, the tax alone would cost Rs 6.5 crore.

The Centre had in February last year waived taxes on the same drug ​for a child named Theera from Maharashtra. Elamaram Kareem demanded that a similar intervention must be made in the case of Muhammed. Muhammed is suffering from a rare genetic disease called Spinal muscular atrophy. The state government and hospital authorities are trying to get the medicine delivered as soon as possible.