Road and Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari has written to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, urging her to consider removing the Goods and Services Tax (GST) on life and medical insurance.

This letter followed suggestions from the Nagpur Divisional Life Insurance Corporation Employees Union regarding the life and general insurance sectors.

According to Gadkari, GST on life insurance premiums should be removed because taxing life insurance is akin to taxing the uncertainties of life.

He also stated that taxing medical insurance acts as a deterrent to the growth of this socially important sector.

Currently, premiums paid by policyholders for all types of life and medical insurance policies are subject to an 18% GST rate.

While the life, general, and health insurance industries have been advocating for a reduction in GST on life and medical insurance premiums to 12%, Gadkari has gone a step further by seeking the complete removal of GST on both segments.

In his letter to the Finance Minister, Gadkari has also expressed concerns about the differential treatment of savings through life insurance, the reintroduction of Income Tax for health insurance premiums, and the consolidation of public sector general insurance companies.