GST to bring economic freedom, imagination to India: Anil Ambani

Stage is set for another 'historic tryst with destiny', said the industrialist in the Parliament

 

Industrialist Anil Ambani on Thursday termed the Goods and Services Tax (GST), being rolled out from July 1, as India's "economic freedom" and said it would make the country the biggest free and democratic market in the history of humankind.

Speaking here at a mutual fund industry event, the Reliance Group chairman said there are many ways of counting the benefits of GST and as many of counting its costs.

"But there is just one way of describing its true promise. GST is not just another piece of reform or transform, however significant. GST is the liberation of our economic imagination. It is our economic freedom," he said.

Ambani said there are moments in the life of a nation when history is made not in small steps of incremental gain but in giant leaps of ambition.| economy news

"We, the people of India, are privileged to bear witness to one such moment in time," he said, referring to the proposed rollout of GST on midnight of June 30.

"Seventy years ago, at the stroke of the midnight hour, our first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, spoke movingly in the Central Hall of Parliament about India's tryst with destiny.

"At the same mid-night hour tomorrow, as our honourable Prime Minister Narendra Modi rises to address a waiting nation from the same august Central Hall, India will be set on course for another historic tryst with destiny," he said.

Ambani said the free market is perhaps the greatest force for economic good in the human history of all earthly inventions.|economy policy

He said the free market is a force for generating wealth and transforming lives and the real promise of GST is the promise of economic liberation.

With the promise of 'One Nation, One Tax, One Market', it would create a borderless world of 1.3 billion people -- producers and consumers engaged in a seamless exchange of goods and services, skill sets and capital, labour and ideas.

Ambani said the world has seen nothing like this before and in less than 48 hours, India will emerge as the biggest free and democratic market in the history of humankind.

"In tandem with its policy precursor -- demonetisation -- GST will forever change the ground rules of doing any kind of trade, commerce or business in India.

"The leadership advantage is backed by strong macro- economic stability," he said while adding that the economy has moved from low inflation to high growth, from fiscal rectitude to prudential current account management, and fom one of the highest savings rates in the world to one of the fastest rates of economic growth.

He said that from insolvency code to NPA resolution, the present government has undertaken a fundamental overhaul of India's financial infrastructure while consolidating and strengthening the banking sector.

"But the greatest achievement of the government lies in the area of financial inclusion, thus setting in motion a growth dynamic for financial intermediaries which is unprecedented in its scope and size," he added.

Insulin, cashews, pickles to get cheaper: GST Council reduces rates of 66 products

Telecom rates unchanged; meeting on June 18 to discuss residual issues

With two weeks to go for the goods and services tax (GST) roll-out, the GST Council on Sunday reduced the rates for 66 items and expanded the scope of the composition scheme for the benefit of small traders, manufacturers, and restaurateurs. The composition scheme is a presumptive taxation scheme allowing small traders, manufacturers and restaurants to pay a 1-5 per cent GST rate on sales without tax credits.

Insulin, pickles, printers, agarbattis, school bags, and cashew nuts are among the 66. Those were among 133 items whose rates were reviewed following industry representation. However, the GST rates for telecom services, marbles, granite, spectacles, among others, were retained, which drew flak from the respective sectors.

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who is the head of the Council, said in certain cases the rate fitment committee went beyond the equalisation principle of maintaining the current tax incidence.|Economy news

“There are certain items that were historically taxed at a higher rate, but the Council felt that the burden needed to be reduced,” said Jaitley. The finance minister said the average of all the rates decided by the Council was significantly lower than the present tax incidence.

On the question about any further revision of rates, he said the fitment committee and the GST Council had gone into all the cases in depth and the rates had been decided after discussion.

“These broadly are the final rates... Just because somebody raising an issue does not mean you have to grant it,” he said.

On the automakers’ pitch for a lower rate for hybrid cars, Jaitley said the facts presented by the industry were not correct. “If necessary, it will come up for discussion,” Jaitley said.

The current level of tax on hybrid cars stands at 30.3 per cent, as against 43 per cent (28 per cent plus 15 per cent cess) decided by the Council.

Providing relief to small entities under the GST, the composition scheme has now been expanded to traders, manufacturers, and restaurants with an annual turnover of Rs 75 lakh as against Rs 50 lakh decided earlier.

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