GST will enhance revenue: Minister

Ambika Sharma

Tribune News Service

Solan, August 29

Industries, Labour and Employment Minister Mukesh Agnihotri today said the introduction of the Goods and Service Tax (GST)-based uniform tax regime will enhance the state’s revenue. The GST amendment Bill has already been ratified in the state Vidhan Sabha.

He said the GST Bill was introduced for the first time by the UPA government in 2007 in the Lok Sabha. The Congress had always supported this Bill as it would put in place a uniform tax regime in the country and added that the state government will provide all requisite support to implement this Bill.

The minister was addressing investors at a one-day workshop organized on GST at Baddi today. He said the implementation of this Bill will help in addressing the concerns of the state. The state government was committed to providing requisite facilities to investors and they were laying stress on bringing accountability in governance along with undertaking development with transparency, Agnihotri said.

While elaborating on the achievements of his department, the minister said the Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh Development Authority has been made functional by extending a budget of Rs 125 crore. Apart from placing a permanent Chief Executive Officer, the authority was undertaking development activities in various fields. Various infrastructure projects like trade centre, pharma testing lab, Iand container depot, etc., worth crores were being set up to facilitate the industry.

Shrikant Baldi, Additional Chief Secretary, Finance, said the state government annually received Rs 55,000 crore as indirect taxes and this amount was slated to rise with the introduction of the GST.

Investors, however, raised their concern about several issues, including the fate of the residual period of the existing industrial package as the GST would do away with all incentives.

Officials said they would take up the issue of residual period of the existing industrial package with the union government though no adverse decision had as yet been announced on it by the GST Council.