<div><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that decisions of the GST Council relating to small businesses will greatly help Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, traders and the service sector. </span></div><br />''<br />''The GST Council, headed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, at its meeting in New Delhi yesterday doubled the GST exemption limit to give relief to small businesses. <br />''<br />''<br />''It raised the exemption limit to 20 lakh rupees for northeastern states and 40 lakh rupees for the rest of the country. <br />''<br />''<br />''The Council also decided that the GST Composition Scheme, under which small traders and businesses pay one per cent tax based on turnover, can be availed by businesses with a turnover of 1 crore 50 lakh, against the earlier 1 crore rupees, with effect from 1st April.<br />''<br />''<br />''<span style="color: #222222;">In a tweet, Mr Modi lauded the decisions taken by the GST Council and said that the government is committed to a simple and people-friendly GST.</span><br />