Venue: Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi

Summary of Points Finalized in the Meeting
Sectoral Presentations and Feedback

The Council heard detailed presentations from six key sectors—Banking & Insurance, Telecommunications, IT/ITeS, Civil Aviation, Railways, and Commerce & Industry—on the challenges they foresaw under GST.

Key suggestions included:

Banking/Insurance: Request for single registration and use of IGST model due to complex inter-State transactions and difficulties in identifying place of supply.

Telecom: Demanded centralised registration and no tax on self-supply between telecom circles; also suggested taxing prepaid vouchers at MRP at the first point.

IT/ITeS: Proposed single registration for pan-India companies and to treat software uniformly as a service to avoid cascading and compliance issues.

Civil Aviation: Recommended zero-rating of outward travel, exclusion of aircraft movement from GST, and early inclusion of ATF (Aviation Turbine Fuel) under GST.

Railways: Sought centralised registration, tax neutrality for passenger and freight services, and no tax on inter-State movement of rolling stock.

Commerce & Industry: Suggested ab initio exemption for exports and SEZ supplies to prevent working capital blockage and recommended low GST on leather (5%) and cement (12%) sectors.
8th GST Council Meeting Minutes, pages 2–10

Approval of Draft IGST Law

The Council approved the draft Integrated GST (IGST) Law, after clause-by-clause discussion.

It included provisions for inter-State transactions, cross-empowerment, and treatment of supplies between Union Territories and States.

Further, the Council agreed that Parliament would have power to make rules on place of supply under Article 269A(5).
8th GST Council Meeting Minutes, page 14–17

Definition of ‘State’ and Taxation in Territorial Waters

A major discussion revolved around whether territorial waters (up to 12 nautical miles) should be treated as part of coastal States or as Union Territory.

The Centre maintained that territorial waters were Union Territory, while States argued they should continue to tax supplies (like ship bunkering and fisheries) as before under VAT.

The Council agreed in principle that States would be empowered to collect SGST in territorial waters, though ownership would remain with the Union—this would be achieved through a deeming provision in law.
8th GST Council Meeting Minutes, page 15–19

Tax Administration in Union Territories without Legislature

The Council decided that UTs without legislatures (e.g., Andaman & Nicobar, Lakshadweep, Daman & Diu, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, and Chandigarh) would be administered directly by the Centre under a special law similar to SGST (later called UTGST).
8th GST Council Meeting Minutes, page 20

Cross-Empowerment to Ensure Single Interface

The Council reaffirmed the principle of a “single interface” for taxpayers under GST to avoid dual control.

Detailed deliberations on cross-empowerment between Centre and States were deferred for the next meeting to finalise a balanced model for enforcement.
8th GST Council Meeting Minutes, page 22–23

Compensation Law – Review and Finalisation

The draft Compensation Law was reviewed with modifications based on earlier meetings.

Key decision: Compensation to States would be paid for five years based on a projected 14% annual revenue growth over the base year 2015–16, funded by a GST Compensation Cess on luxury and sin goods.

The Council authorised the Law Committee to incorporate necessary legal and editorial changes before presenting it for final approval.
8th GST Council Meeting Minutes, page 25–26

Hearing of Power Sector in Next Meeting

The Council decided to invite representatives from the Power Sector in the next meeting since they could not attend this session.
8th GST Council Meeting Minutes, page 2

Next GST Council Meeting Date

It was decided that the 9th GST Council Meeting would be held in January 2017 to finalise cross-empowerment issues and discuss the Compensation Law.
8th GST Council Meeting Minutes, page 36

In summary:
The 8th GST Council Meeting (3–4 January 2017) finalised the draft IGST Law, reached consensus on State empowerment for territorial waters, and reviewed the Compensation Law framework. Sectoral presentations provided valuable industry insights for smooth GST rollout. Issues of cross-empowerment and UT administration were set for conclusion in the next meeting.