Traders, industrialists lobby for early rollout of GST

It will be good for the industry and all businesses will benefit, says Sumit Mazumder, President, CII

India’s trade bodies have come on a common platform with industry lobby groups to campaign for an early rollout of the Good and Services Tax (GST).

Trade lobbies, including CII, FICCI, Assocham, PHD Chambers, and traders body, the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), have for the first time issued a joint appeal to the political fraternity “to give safe passage to the Constitution Amendment (122nd) Bill,” pertaining to GST in Parliament.“The industry is in favour of GST,” said Sumit Mazumder, President of industry chamber, Confederation of Indian Industry. “It will be good for the industry and all businesses will benefit. It will unify India into one country instead of a fragmented one with every state having its own tax rate… It will dramatically improve ease of doing business in India.”

Seminar

As a part of the campaign, a seminar on GST will be held in the national capital next week, which will be addressed by Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley, and Chief Economist Advisor, Arvind Subramanian. Similar conferences are likely to be held in other States as well.

The campaign is targeted at creating awareness and sensitising the business community and political parties about the benefits of and the need for one of the biggest tax reforms in India, according to a joint statement.

“The joint campaign is derived from the idea of reaching out to political parties and trade and industry to apprise them of the advantages and benefits of GST that could accrue if implemented early,” according to the CAIT.

Praveen Khandelwal, the Secretary General at CAIT said GST was “a ray of hope to get rid of the complex taxation system since it will integrate various central and state-level taxes.”

Read also: All you need to know about GST

An earlier attempt by India Inc in May to persuade parliamentarians to pass the GST Bill during the Monsoon Session went in vain.

The industry, through an online petition had urged “all political parties to have a collaborative and consultative process in the Parliament and allow the Parliament to function, to debate and legislate.” The initiative has since then received support of over 63,000 people, including top industrialists.

The government and industry is keen that the bill is approved in the ongoing winter session of Parliament so as to meet the rollout date of April 1, 2016. The bill was cleared by Lok Sabha in May and now is stuck in Rajya Sabha, where the ruling NDA is in a minority.

Any constitutional amendment bill needs to be approved by a two-third majority in both Houses of Parliament and ratified by half the state legislative assemblies before it takes effect.