Budget 2020 Wishlist: Here are the key challenges for automobile sector

Like the last quarter, firms will focus across its value chain to ensure smooth transition to BS-VI

Sector snapshot

The FY20 year-to-date (April to December) domestic sales volumes in all vehicular segments witnessed a sharp decline with passenger vehicles and commercial vehicles reporting 16% and 21% drop, respectively. The key reason is subdued customer demand due to liquidity crunch and higher cost of finance and insurance. Like the last quarter, firms will focus across its value chain to ensure smooth transition to BS-VI.

Key challenges

Higher upfront cost: Customers are required to pay a higher upfront insurance premium for two – wheelers and four – wheelers and hence, sales volumes have dipped in these segments

Shift to BS-VI: The shift to BS-VI by April 2020 will be challenging for automakers as it will result in price increase which is likely to adversely impact demand

Liquidity crunch: The demand was impacted due to squeeze in the NBFC financing

Industry expectations

Reduction in GST rate applicable to automobiles to 18% from the current 28% to absorb the extra price impact of shift to BS-VI A cut in personal income tax rate will provide more disposable income in the hands of consumers, which could lead to automotive demand recovery…Keep Reading

Move comes ahead of GST Council meeting

In front of the GST Council meeting on Wednesday, the Center on Monday looked to alleviate the frayed nerves of states by discharging over Rs 35,000 crore as pending remuneration. “The focal government has discharged GST pay of Rs 35,298 crore to states and association domains today (Monday),” the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) said in a tweet.

This is probably going to give a positive sign to states for the up and coming gathering, which may take up different choices to raise assets to remunerate states. Prior in the day, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman guaranteed states that the Center would not “renege” on the guarantee of GST compensation

There was, nonetheless, some disarray over the period for which the paid sum was discharged. States said with this installment they got pay levy till September. “Pay has been discharged to the states for the long periods of August and September. We are cheerful that remuneration for October and November will be discharged before the month’s over,” Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi revealed to Business Standard.

Prior, Parliament’s Standing Committee on Finance had said the Center had paid Rs 45,745 crore as pay to states for the initial four months of the current money related year. The duty was paid in June and August. Be that as it may, as indicated by Sitharaman’s announcement in the Rajya Sabha, the Center had discharged remuneration of Rs 65,250 crore till October this year…

FM Sitharaman guarantees conditions of discharging GST pay contribution soon

Sitharaman on Wednesday said the Center was compelled by a solemn obligation to protect the enthusiasm of states

Association Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday guaranteed states that the merchandise and ventures charge (GST) remuneration because of them for August and September will be discharged soon. She, be that as it may, didn’t determine a course of events. Money priests (FMs) of Punjab, Kerala, Delhi, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, and Madhya Pradesh had met Sitharaman on Wednesday and encouraged that assets due for four months since August be discharged as quickly as time permits.

The issue could turn into a significant one at the GST Council meeting on December 17-18 in New Delhi. Punjab FM Manpreet Singh Badal said Sitharaman guaranteed them the cash will be discharged soon. “Remuneration for October and November is additionally due,” he included.

The August and September remuneration duty for Rajasthan are Rs 4,400 crore, for Punjab it is Rs 2,100 crore, for Delhi it is Rs 2,355 crore, for Kerala it is Rs 1,600 crore, and for West Bengal it is Rs 1,500 crore. Delhi’s Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said Nirmala Sitharaman didn’t determine the motivation behind why the pay was being held up. “The Center owes Rs 3,600 crore to Delhi for August, September, and October,” he included.

Cess assortments under the GST to remunerate states for income misfortune have missed the mark regarding prerequisites in the current monetary year by virtue of stoppage popular. Under the law, if the states’ GST income doesn’t develop by at any rate 14 percent, the Center pays them the distinction after at regular intervals.

Madhya Pradesh (MP) Commercial Tax Minister Brajendra Singh Rathore said the Center owes the state Rs 3,000 crore for August to September. The state has fared the most exceedingly terrible in GST assortment in 2019-20 (FY20), rounding up 30 percent of the yearly target. Kerala, Punjab, and Tamil Nadu have gathered around 33 percent, shows the information on the Comptroller and Auditor General of India site…

Govt blocks GST e-way bill generation; move may impact 300,000 firms

These businesses had not filed their monthly GST Return (GSTR)-3B for two consecutive months

Businesses of roughly 300,000 firms paying goods and services tax (GST) were likely impacted on Monday, as the government had blocked e-way bill generation for non-compliant assessees. These businesses had not filed their monthly GST Return (GSTR)-3B for two consecutive months. The government had notified the rule last month as an enforcement measure amid subdued revenue collection. The GST system has been grappling with low levels of compliance. Only 65-68 per cent of eligible GST filers file the GSTR-3B within the due date, the GST Network (GSTN) data shows.

“This month, the taxpayer will be alerted with a cautionary message while generating e-way bills, in case GSTR-3B for the past two successive months of the consignor/consignee GST identification number (GSTIN) has not been filed. From next month onwards, such GSTINs will be blocked,” the note had said.

The same has become operational from December 3. According to the data by the GSTN, the information technology backbone of the two-year-old indirect tax regime, there are 2 million GSTINs that have not filed GSTR-3B for September and October. Of these 2 million GSTINs, 347,000 GSTINs (or 16.7 per cent) had transactions in the e-way bill system for September and October, which are learnt to have been impacted immediately….Click Here

GST mop-up crosses Rs 1 trn in Nov over festive demand, anti-evasion steps

Although the collection figures come as a breather for the government, it is lower than the expected collection rate needed to meet the steep target for FY20

Goods and services tax (GST) collection recovered to a seven-month high in November, crossing the Rs 1-trillion mark on account of the festive season demand and anti-evasion measures by the government. After two months of negative growth, the GST mop-up grew by 6 per cent in November over the corresponding period last year to Rs 1.03 trillion, against Rs 95,380 billion in October, the data released by the Ministry of Finance showed on Sunday. These figures are for October, collected in November.

Although the collection figures come as a breather for the government, it is lower than the expected collection rate needed to meet the steep target for 2019-20 (FY20). The government’s monthly GST collection target is around Rs 1.18 trillion. Being a festival month, GST collection on domestic transactions witnessed a 12 per cent growth — the highest during the year. GST collection on imports continued to see negative growth of (-)13 per cent, against (-)20 per cent in October.

“This is the eighth time since the inception of GST in July 2017 that the monthly collection has crossed the Rs 1-trillion-mark. Also, the November 2019 collection is the third-highest monthly collection since the introduction of GST, next only to April 2019 and March 2019 collections,” the Ministry of Finance said in a release….Read More

States rule out GST rate cut on automobiles amid grim revenue situation

Says slowdown in sector not linked to GST

Key states have expressed reservations on a cut in the goods and services tax (GST) rate for the auto sector because of the grim revenue situation, after the fitment panel refrained from recommending any such reduction.

Facing a deepening slowdown, the auto sector is pinning hopes on the GST Council meeting on September 20 for a GST rate cut from 28 per cent to 18 per cent. However, states including Bihar, West Bengal, Kerala, and Punjab are of the view that the slowdown in the auto sector is not because of the GST rate but structural issues in the economy.

“Bihar will not support any rate reduction on the auto sector, because the revenue position does not allow this,” said Sushil Modi, deputy chief minister, Bihar. Sushil Modi even ruled out supporting the sector by abolishing the cess component. “Where will the Centre get funds to compensate states? The revenue position is grim,” he said. The fitment committee in its meeting last week had stated a potential revenue loss of around Rs 50,000 crore annually in case the rate was reduced from 28 per cent to 18 per cent.

Why India’s labourers can’t afford to buy a packet of biscuits for Rs 5

Trouble is, the distribution of the Indian economic pie is more lopsided than the aggregate numbers suggest

Economy News: When snack makers start to lament that Indians can’t afford to spend 5 rupees (7 cents) on biscuits, it’s time to stop arguing over how much of the nation’s slowdown is cyclical and what part is structural.

Considering its glaring income, wealth and consumption inequalities, India is a surprisingly calm society. However, when purchasing power dries up to the extent that rural laborers and urban blue-collar workers have to think twice about cheap munchies, then the situation is desperate. The culprit is deep-rooted wage suppression, a long-term issue that needs attention.

Britannia Industries Ltd., the No. 1 Indian biscuit maker, recently sounded alarm bells over the sharp deceleration in its domestic sales volumes. Rival Parle Products Pvt. chimed in and said jobs were at risk for as many as 10,000 of its workers.

A Parle executive blamed India’s 2017 goods and services tax, or GST. While the consumption tax may indeed have been an additional burden in an economy slowing under a disastrous November 2016 currency ban, the funk has its roots in insufficient wages. In recent years, only about a third of the economy’s income has gone to labor, with providers of debt and equity capital taking the rest, according to India Ratings and Research Pvt., a unit of Fitch Ratings…

Read More: Indian Economy

GST collection over Rs 1 trillion in July despite subdued CGST and SGST

However, the central and state portions remained subdued, posing a challenge for the revenue target for the financial year

Collection from the goods and services tax (GST) was above Rs 1 trillion in July, mainly on account of higher mop-up under the integrated GST. However, the central and state portions remained subdued, posing a challenge for the revenue target for the financial year.

GST collection at Rs 1.02 trillion in the month was slightly more than 2 per cent higher than the Rs 99,939 crore in June and 5.8 per cent higher than the Rs 96,483 crore in July last year. However, Central GST collection was just Rs 17,912 crore in July, down from Rs 18,366 crore in June.

State GST collection too was lower at Rs 25,008 crore in the month against Rs 25,343 crore in June. It was the IGST that rose to Rs 50,612 crore against Rs 47,772 crore in this period. Subdued revenue collection poses challenges for Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman with a growth target of 16 per cent for the central GST in 2019-20, reinforcing the need for emphasis on data intelligence and policies to plug leakages.

The CGST collection target was revised downwards to Rs 5.26 trillion for the fiscal year from the Rs 6.1 trillion estimated in the Interim Budget, following a 9 per cent shortfall in collection in the previous year.

“GST collection for the month, despite being more than Rs 1 trillion, would be a matter of concern because this is lower than the Budget estimate. Collection needs to be correlated to the economic situation,” said M S Mani, senior director, Deloitte India.

Nyay scheme will ‘remonetise’ what Modi ‘demonetised’, says Rahul Gandhi

Rahul Gandhi said the ‘Nyay’ scheme has the twin objectives of giving money to the 20 per cent poorest families in India and remonetising the economy “damaged” by demonetisation

Lok sabha elections 2019: Congress President Rahul Gandhi on thursday said the ‘Nyay’ scheme can remonetise what Prime Minister Narendra Modi demonetised and declared that his party’s anti-poverty programme has thrown the BJP into total disarray In an exclusive interview to PTI before the seventeenth election starting Apr eleven, Gandhi said the ‘Nyay’ scheme has the dual objectives of giving cash to the twenty per cent poorest families in india and remonetising the economy “damaged” by demonetisation.

“What the PM has done over the past 5 years is to get rid of all cash from the economy with unsuccessful policies like conclusion and a poorly dead Gabbar Singh Tax (GST). Informal sectors are badly hit.”

“The aim of the ‘Nyay’ scheme is two-fold. 1st is to ensure a minimum income to the bottom 20 per cent families. The second is to remonetise the economy that has been demonetised by Modiji,” Gandhi said.

“There is another side to line the theme ‘Nyay’. Why have we have a tendency to chosen to decision this theme ‘Justice’? because over the last 5 years, man Narendra Modi has simply snatched from the poor and given nothing back…

Rs 177-cr GST fraud: Man arrested in Gujarat for issuing fake tax invoices

The accused allegedly obtained GST registration, GST identity cards, login-password, SIM cards, bank accounts and online passwords in the name of dummy owners

Current Affairs: A man has been arrested for allegedly issuing fake invoices to claim Rs 177.64-crore input tax credit, the Central GST department said Saturday. The man, identified as Ehsas Ali Saiyad, a resident of Vadodara, was the mastermind of a scam involving issuing of fake invoices, said the office of the Central GST and Central Excise Commissionerate in a release in Gandhinagar.The 29-year-old allegedly floated 66 fake companies with as many dummy owners in whose name he issued tax invoices to claim input tax credit (ITC), it said.

The accused obtained GST registration, GST identity cards, login-password, SIM cards, bank accounts and online passwords in the name of these dummy owners, said the commissionerate. “The accused would issue fake bills in the name of the entities created by him. He issued tax invoice of taxable value of Rs 1,210 crore to claim input tax credit of Rs 177.64 crore,” it said.

He was arrested under provisions of the CGST Act and further investigation was on, said the release.Under Goods and Services Tax, input credit is the tax benefit manufacturers get for the GST they pay on purchase of goods. Unscrupulous elements use fake bills to claim higher ITC.

Contain Source by Business Standard or BS

Interim Budget 2019: What’s in store for investors, taxpayers, economy?

From doling out sops for the farm sector and providing some relief to the individual income-tax payers, here’s what leading brokerages expect from the budget

Interim Budget 2019: With barely a few days left for the NDA (National Democratic Alliance) government to present the Interim Budget 2019, most domestic and foreign brokerages expect the measures to have a populist undertone ahead of the general elections scheduled for April / May 2019. From doling out sops for the farm sector and providing some relief to the individual income-tax payers, here’s what leading brokerages expect.

CLSA

The pressure to further expand the farmer welfare programme ahead of the 2019 national elections is high for PM Modi. A possible announcement of a nationwide direct farmer support scheme is quite likely, or possibly even earlier. A Telangana-style scheme could cost ~ Rs1.2trn, further complicating fiscal maths, as it could be a recurring liability. The RBI’s possible large dividend might help just one time.

The GST-led tax revenue shortfall of 75-80bps of GDP is not reflected in the reduced government expenditure for FY19 due to off-balance-sheet funding, which is not a sustainable solution and will create its own problems later and distort the reported fiscal deficit for FY19…

Bank of America Merrill Lynch

We expect the Center to target a fiscal deficit of 3.5% of GDP in FY20, after ending FY19 at 3.7%, 40bp higher than target. This should be funded by running down the Center’s surplus with the RBI without additional issuance. While a pre-election Budget should ideally not propose new direct taxes, the finance minister should take steps to alleviate stress in rural India (metaphorically Bharat) via subvention or direct income transfer and for small industries via subvention…

Contain Source by Business Standard or BS

Two crore people have lost jobs due to demonetisation, GST: Congress leader

The Congress leader attacked the government for not implementing the Street Vendors Act, 2014, affecting the small traders and daily income earners

Current Affairs: Congress leader Ajay Upadhayay on Wednesday claimed that around two crore people have lost their jobs in the country due to demonetisation and implementation of GST. Addressing a press conference here, All India Congress Committee Spokesperson Ajay Upadhayay charged the BJP-led government that demonetisation and the GST had hit the unorganised sector most.

“Due to these two steps by the (Narendra) Modi government, two crore people have lost jobs. BJP’s promise to give two crore jobs every year has become a ‘jumla’ only,” he added. During the 2018 year itself, around 1.1 crore people have lost their employment opportunities, Upadhayay claimed.

“According to a recent RTI reply, 24 lakh government posts are lying vacant at present. If the BJP government rally wanted to give jobs to unemployed youths, then they would have recruited people,” he said. He also attacked the government for not implementing the Street Vendors Act, 2014, affecting the small traders and daily income earners…

Read More: Demonetisation

After big rate cuts by GST Council, only 35 goods left in 28% tax bracket

After the latest rounds of rate cuts by the GST Council on July 21, only 35 items are left in the 28% tax slab

The GST Council has pruned the 28 per cent slab by cutting tax rates on 191 goods over the last one year, leaving just 35 items, including AC, digital camera, video recorders, dishwashing machine and automobiles, in the highest tax bracket.

There were around 226 goods in the 28 per cent category when Goods and Services Tax (GST) was implemented on July 1, 2017.

Over the last one year, the Council, chaired by Union Finance Minister and comprising state ministers, has slashed rates in 191 items.

ALSO READ : Here’s everything that will get cheaper as new GST rates come into effect

The 35 goods, which will be left in highest slab once the new GST rates are implemented from July 27, also include cement, automobile parts, tyres, automobile equipments, motor vehicles. yachts, aircrafts, aerated drinks, betting and demerit items like tobacco, cigarette and pan masala.

Experts said going forward as the revenues stabilise, the Council may look at further rationalisation of the 28 per cent slab, to restrict the highest tax slab to super luxury and sin goods.

Deloitte India Partner M S Mani said it would be logical to expect that once the GST collections after the recent reductions stabilise, the remaining items such as televisions of all sizes, dishwashers, digital cameras, air conditioners could be considered for an 18 per cent rate…READ FULL SOURCE

Milk, Mercedes can’t be taxed at single GST rate, says PM Narendra Modi

To criticism that the GST was ‘hurriedly implemented’, the PM said the government had been responsive, with issues identified and redressed in real time

 

Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi on Sunday ruled out a single slab for the goods and services tax (GST), stating that milk and the Mercedes could not have the same rate.

The GST regime was rolled out on July 1 last year. The central government on Sunday marked its first anniversary with an event in New Delhi, while Modi took to social media to showcase its advantages.

In an interview to Swarajya, a news website, Modi responded to criticism of his government’s version of the GST. He ruled out a single tax slab, pointed at the gains of the past one year, and admitted to teething troubles having plagued the regime in its first year.

To the Congress party’s criticism that there should be a single tax rate, he said: “It would have been very simple to have just one slab but it would have meant we could not have food items at 0 per cent tax rate. Can we have milk and Mercedes at the same rate?”

“So, when our friends in the Congress say that they will have just one GST rate, they are effectively saying they will tax food items and commodities, which are currently at 0 or 5 per cent, at 18 per cent,” Modi said.

To criticism that the GST was “hurriedly implemented”, the PM said the government had been responsive, with issues identified and redressed in real time.

The PM did not rule out the possibility that tax rates could come down further on some items. He said the government had reduced taxes on nearly 400 groups of items, and around 150 groups have a 0 per cent tax rate.

Modi also responded to the Opposition’s charge that the GST was “anti-people” by sharing on Twitter and the NaMo app the advantages the tax reform had brought for the common people. With the assembly elections scheduled in three key North Indian states in the next five months, and the Lok Sabha elections due in less than nine months, the PM tweeted that “decreasing prices”, because of the GST, were “helping poor and middle class”.

He also reached out to small businesses, a key support base of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and said the tax reform had provided “increasing opportunities for small and medium entrepreneurs”. With the hashtag “GST for New India”, the PM tweeted that the GST had brought growth, simplicity, and transparency. He said it had boosted formalisation, enhanced productivity, and furthered “ease of doing business”.

The PM said the GST had been designed to “eliminate inspector raj with the help of information technology”, and suggested that the GST roll-out was consistent with his vision of “minimum governance”.

The PM in his last radio broadcast had said the tax reform was an example of cooperative federalism with decisions in all 27 GST Council meetings having been reached by consensus.

Modi said the number of enterprises registered since Independence until June 30, 2017, was 6.6 million. He said in just one year after the introduction of the GST, the number of new enterprises registered was 4.8 million. He said around 3.5 billion invoices were processed, 110 million returns were filed, and 100 million e-way bills generated. “Would we be looking at such numbers, if GST were indeed very complex?” Modi asked.

Click Here : PM Narendra Modi

From Swiggy to Foodpanda, online food delivery service firms face GST heat

Food delivery services are taxed at 18% which the restaurants have to pay

 

Online food delivery service companies like Swiggy are facing the heat from restaurants after the goods and services tax (GST) on eating outlets was cut to five per cent, from 18 per cent in November, and input tax credit provision was withdrawn.

Some restaurants have started charging higher prices on online food delivery platforms. Others are negotiating a commission cut with online food delivery partners to make up for the 3.5 per cent additional cost due to unavailability of the input tax credit (ITC) facility.

Swiggy, Zomato and Foodpanda provide online delivery services to restaurants at a commission of around 20 per cent, which is levied an 18 per cent GST. Unlike earlier, restaurants can no longer claim ITC on the 18 per cent GST for the input services from these delivery platforms. “These online food delivery companies have represented for a rate reduction or to allow ITC to restaurants. The matter is being discussed," said a government official.

Swiggy, which holds about 60 per cent market share and delivers 450,000 orders a day, has approached the government for rate reduction to five per cent.

Food delivery services are taxed at 18 per cent, which the restaurants have to pay. But, they cannot now avail of any tax credit against input services.

A senior executive of a major online food delivery player said they had been under pressure from restaurants to cut margins by three to four per cent. He added other restaurants had, on their own, increased the prices on their platform. “We do not have an exact number but many restaurants are slowly increasing the prices on online delivery platforms, which is a setback,” he added.

Swiggy told Business Standard, "The high GST rate of 18 per cent on online food delivery service providers and ineligibility of credit of such GST charged to the restaurants could have an adverse impact on growth of the sector." A reduction in GST rates will keep food costs affordable and create more jobs in the sector, while furthering the government’s initiatives on Digital India, it added

Queries to Zomato remained unanswered.

A little more than 100,000 restaurants have partnered with these online food delivery service providers and around 70 per cent of orders on these platforms are through digital payments, according to an industry study shared with the government.

“Specific to the restaurant sector, as no ITC is allowed, any GST paid is a cost, which would influence restaurants to avoid incurring such expenses, attracting high GST. The only way to encourage use of technology and to incentivise restaurants to use online delivery partners is by reducing the GST rate, which would aid to the growth of this theme” said Kunal Wadhwa, partner — indirect tax, PwC India

Riyaaz Amlani, chief executive officer of Impresario Entertainment & Hospitality and immediate past-president of NRAI said they couldn’t claim ITC on delivery charges they paid to online delivery service firms like Zomato and Swiggy, which is a pain point.

According to a top executive of a popular multinational fast-food chain, the matter should get resolved soon. "Paying 18 per cent GST on deliveries and other heads without ITC is not feasible. Else, one would have to hike prices on the menu," he added.

Read More : Swiggy

GES 2017: Make in India for the world, Modi tells entrepreneurs

He said women entrepreneurs received over three-fourths of the Rs 4.28 lakh crore loans under the MUDRA Scheme since 2015

 

economy policy:Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday invited global entrepreneurs to invest and make in India.

“To my entrepreneur friends from across the globe, I would like to say, come, make in India, invest in India, for India and for the world. I invite each one of you to become a partner in India's growth story. And once again assure you of our wholehearted support," he said, inaugurating the Global Entrepreneur Summit (GES) here.

The keynote was given by Ivanka Trump, advisor to US President Donald Trump, who is leading a US delegation to the summit. The event, being hosted by the governments of India and the US, is focused on women entrepreneurship; more than half of the 1,500 participants from 150 countries are women.

ALSO READ: GES 2017: Ivanka Trump bats for women power in business

Listing the several initiatives of his government such as Startup India, the goods and services tax (GST), actions on black money and on bankruptcy and insolvency, he said his government has taken several steps to improve the business environment, leading to a jump in the country’s World Bank’s ease of doing business ranking (to 100 from 130 earlier) and improvement in the country’s ratings by Moody’s. He said the government was not satisfied and would strive to improve further to the fiftieth rank on the World Bank rating. “Our StartUp India programme is a comprehensive action plan to foster entrepreneurship and promote innovation. It aims to minimise the regulatory burden and provide support to start-ups. Over 1,200 redundant laws have been scrapped, 87 rules for FDI have been eased in 21 sectors, and several government processes have been taken online,” Modi claimed.

The PM said an environment of transparent policies and a rule of law providing a level-playing field was necessary for entrepreneurship to flourish. “A historic overhaul of the taxation system has been recently undertaken, bringing in the GST. Our Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code is a step towards ensuring timely resolution for stressed ventures. We have recently improved this by preventing wilful defaulters from bidding for stressed assets,” he said, after inaugurating the eighth edition of the GES and the first one to be held in any South Asian country.

Read More: Ivanka trump at GES 2017

India's GST rates are highest in the world: Manpreet Singh Badal

Congress will strongly raise the issue of compliance and reduction in tax rates at the GST Council meeting in Guwahati: Badal

 

 

 

Exclusion of energy, real estate, and power are leading to cascading of taxes, and need to be brought under the goods and services tax (GST), said Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal. He told Dilasha Seth that the Congress will strongly raise the issue of compliance and reduction in tax rates at the Council meeting in Guwahati on Friday. Edited excerpts:

What are the key concerns that you have raised with the Centre on the GST?

We were told once the GST was implemented, India’s gross domestic product would go up by two per cent, but the opposite has happened. There is something fundamentally wrong with the GST — whether be it the rates, compliance, or the GST Network (GSTN) itself. We have gone in for a reform measure that is half-baked. The Indian GST rate is the highest in the world. Most countries start with a uniform GST rate of a single digit — at best, below 15 per cent; at worst, 18-20 per cent. The GST rates of 40 per cent are unheard of anywhere in the world.(economy policy)

Most of the issues on rates and compliance may get addressed in the Council meeting on Friday. Why is the Congress raising them now?

It has been five months since the GST roll-out. It is now that the government has woken up to the issues we have been talking about. It is too little, too late. It is not a question of the Congress or the BJP, but a question of the livelihood of millions. There has been a change of heart at the Centre. I do not know whether it has to do with the elections, but it needs to be done in the interest of the nation.

You also spoke about including real estate, petrol, and electricity under the GST. Will you effectively raise it in the meeting on Friday?

One has to bring petroleum, real estate, and electricity under the GST. This has, in fact, led to a lot of cascading of taxes across the board. For GST to be effective, all items must be subsumed. At least 50 per cent revenue has been kept out of the GST. There needs to be a discussion on this.

Compliance is another issue you have strongly raised. What is the big demand?

The requirement of matching nearly 3,500 million invoices every month with a possible 20 per cent mismatch will require additional working capital of close to Rs 1 lakh crore. Companies are not getting their input credit on time. Compliance should be made easier. The GSTN needs to be strengthened. The invoice matching glitches should be rectified. We hope to find a solution to that in today’s (Friday’s) meeting.

Diwali: Cracker ban goes up in smoke as Delhi air quality turns 'very poor'

A 'very poor' air quality index essentially means that people may suffer from respiratory illnesses on a prolonged exposure to such air

 

The festive fervour gripped the nation on Thursday as people celebrated Diwali, often referred to as 'the festival of lights by lighting diyas (earthen lamps), paying obeisance to Goddess Lakshmi, distributing sweets. However, a quiet and promising evening gave way to thick haze and noise as Delhi celebrated Diwali, dashing the hopes of cracker-free festivities, following a Supreme Court ban on the sale of firecrackers in the National Capital Region (NCR).

ALSO READ: From PM Modi in Kashmir to Yogi in Ayodhya: How leaders celebrated Diwali

The cracker-bursting was relatively subdued as compared to previous years. However, the revelers in the adjoining townships of Delhi such as Noida, Gurgaon and Faridabad paid little heed to the apex court's writ and environmentalists' concerns.

Real-time pollution data alarming

The online indicators of the pollution monitoring stations in the city glowed red, indicating a 'very poor' air quality as the volume of ultrafine particulates PM 2.5 and PM 10, which enter the respiratory system and manage to reach the bloodstream, sharply rose from around 7 pm.

At 10 pm, in Mandir Marg in Delhi, the PM 2.5 concentration was 390 units against the prescribed 60 units, while PM 10 was 480 against the prescribed 100...Read More

Shoddy fuel: After new highs, specialists see oil, diesel costs falling soon

Experts say domestic prices will track international ones, which have shown a declining trend

economy today:Diesel costs in Delhi on Tuesday scaled another record-breaking high of Rs 59.14 for each liter, while different urban areas too observed a significant increment. In any case, industry specialists and the legislature trust that costs will ease in the following couple of weeks as worldwide costs are demonstrating a declining pattern.

In Delhi, the petrol price. as well, was at a two-year high on Tuesday at Rs 70.88 for every liter. Since the execution of day by day valuing from June 16 this year, Indian bushel unrefined petroleum has gone up by around 19 for each — from $46 a barrel to $55.36 a barrel. Be that as it may, residential retail offering costs of petroleum and diesel in Delhi have gone up by just eight for every penny amid this period.

As indicated by Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, the fundamental explanation behind the expansion in item costs was the expansion in worldwide costs because of the two sea tempest – Harvey and Irma – that hit the US. Thirteen for each penny of the US refinery limit was closed down because of the typhoons. "In the previous three months, the FOB (free on board) cost of oil and diesel in the worldwide market expanded by 20 for every penny. The current ascent in costs is transient in nature and will ease in the coming days," said a source near the improvement...Read more

 

FM Arun Jaitley hits back, calls Yashwant Sinha 'job applicant at 80'

In a newspaper article on Wednesday, Sinha had criticised Jaitley for running the economy aground

 

On Thursday, a day in the wake of getting fire from party associate Yashwant Sinha, Finance Minister (FM) Arun Jaitley portrayed his ancestor as "a vocation candidate at 80".

At the arrival of a book, India @70 Modi @3.5, the FM stated, "Likely, a more fitting title for the book would have been India @70, Modi @3.5 and a vocation candidate @ 80."

Ceasing from taking names, he blamed Sinha for acting working together with previous back clergyman P Chidambaram in condemning him.

Jaitley, who is confronting feedback for directing the economy to slip to its slowest pace of development in three years, said he had done a little research to haul out what Sinha and Chidambaram needed to say in regards to each other previously. "One said of the other: Chidambaram should be conceived again to coordinate my record as back priest. He at that point connected fund serve Chidambaram to a bumbling specialist for neglecting to control India's disturbing financial deficiency. And afterward went on and said I blame him for running the economy down to the ground," he said in a clear reference to remarks made by Sinha.

Sinha, he stated, had blamed Chidambaram for being "the most vain individual" who bothered his telephones.(economy policy)

Not to be abandoned, Chidambaram had called Sinha's residency amid the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government as the "most noticeably bad years since advancement", he reviewed.

Jaitley said he didn't have the extravagance so far of being a previous back clergyman (Sinha) nor did he have the advantage of being a previous fund serve who has turned a reporter (Chidambaram). Being a previous back priest, "I can advantageously overlook a strategy loss of motion (amid UPA-II). I can advantageously overlook the 15 for each penny NPAs of 1998 and 2002 (amid Sinha's term as back clergyman). I can helpfully overlook the $4-billion hold left in 1991 and I can switch over and change the account."

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