GST rollout likely next year, says PM

Bengaluru, October 6

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today expressed hope that the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill will be rolled out next year. Addressing Indian and German business leaders here, he said, “We have introduced the GST Bill in Parliament and hope to roll it out in 2016.”

Edit: Beyond a photo-op

The GST Bill has already been approved by the Lok Sabha and is pending in the Rajya Sabha, where the ruling NDA does not have a majority. After its approval by Parliament, half of the state legislatures also need to approve the Constitutional Amendment Bill to bring a GST as a replacement to all indirect taxes.

Hosting a special lunch for Chancellor Angela Merkel and her delegation with leading Indian CEOs here, the PM made a strong business push.

The lunch was attended by several industry biggies, including Wipro Chairman Azim Premji, Chairman of the Aditya Birla Group Kumar Mangalam Birla, Tata Consultancy Services CEO N Chandrasekaran, ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar and L&T Chief A M Naik, among others.

Positioning India as a “bright spot” for investment in the current global slowdown, Modi assured investors of simple and predictable tax regime as well as IPR protection at an event “Digitizing Tomorrow Together” jointly organised by NASSCOM in association with Fraunhofer.

Modi said his government had taken decisive steps to remove long-pending concerns of investors. “We have clearly articulated that we will not resort to retrospective taxation,” he said. The Prime Minister also listed various steps that his government had taken to facilitate business activity in the country. A series of measures taken during the 15 months of the BJP rule had restored credibility of India in the eyes of global players, he said. The government was speeding up regulatory clearances, reducing licensing requirements in the defence sector and making tax policy more consistent, he added.

Speaking to reporters after the lunch, Tata Consultancy Services CEO N Chandrasekaran said, “I think there is a tremendous momentum, tremendous opportunity across various segments. There is a lot of confidence on both sides on the opportunities that exist and how we can cooperate.... we could visibly see a lot of aspiration from both sides.”

Kochhar said the big take away is Germany realises that India is a very important market and there is clear understanding that lot of steps are being taken towards the ease of doing business and there is also understanding about areas of cooperation. 

"As I meet investors, few positive things that are definitely coming out, one is that India clearly stands out amongst other nations in terms of all improvements in the macro economic factors....; I think there is whole lot of improvement and stability in the macro economic factors that stands out very positively," Kochhar said.— PTI