GST Reforms To Touch All Indians, Assures Sitharaman; Calls For Efficiency To Bridge Revenue Gap

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that she is confident of GST rate cuts passing through to the end consumers, and has trust in the industry and traders. Speaking at the NDTV Profit GST Conclave, Sitharaman said that taxable items were viewed from the lens of daily consumption, aspirational items for the middle class, for farmers, and items which are important to the Indian economy at large.

All 140 crore Indians will have something or the other where the tax reduction will come through, she assured.

GST 2.0 was in the making for almost 1.5 years, Sitharaman said, adding that she was waiting for a worthy pack of reforms before presenting the overhaul.

While thanking ministers from multiple parties and states who acceded to the reforms, she noted that the GST Council meeting was not at all acrimonious. The council is accustomed to discussion of this nature, she said, but clarified that the decision to bring down the rates saw no opposition from anyone.

The difference was on the path of revenue falling, the finance minister said. On that, she said that Centre and states are together, with both seeing the impact. As such, efficiency will have to increase to offset the fall, she added.