New Delhi: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday defended the government's approach to reforms, days after it was forced by the opposition to delay the passage of key land and tax reforms in Parliament.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi finishes his first year in office later this month. Investors had hoped that PM Modi's biggest majority in the Lok Sabha in 30 years would speed up economic reforms, but that assumption took a hit when the government had to send the Goods and Services Tax bill and the Land Acquisition Bill to two different parliamentary panels for a review.
While the move has delayed the measures until at least July, Mr Jaitley said on Thursday that it was the fastest route to get parliament's approval.
"I do believe that the road map that we have now developed of sending it to the joint committee is probably the fastest route to get the land bill approved," he said.
The opposition Congress party, defeated by PM Modi's BJP in the national elections last May, has fought back against the land bill that seeks to make it easier for businesses to buy land, calling it "anti-farmer".
In the Rajya Sabha or Upper House, the ruling BJP is dependent on the Congress and other parties to pass the measure.
The delay has also cast doubts on whether Mr Jaitley will be meet his April 2016 launch deadline for the Goods and Services Tax that would harmonise a mosaic of state and central levies into a national sales tax.
The GST bill, after its passage in parliament, also requires the approval of more than a half of India's 29 states.
Mr Jaitley said the government would have to work overtime to meet the launch deadline. "I am still hopeful, in fact very hopeful, that we will be able to achieve this," he said.
The Finance Minister calls the GST the biggest tax reform since India's independence in 1947, which could add as much as 2 percentage points to its economic growth.
© Thomson Reuters 2015
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