NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said that his govt is committed to moving ahead on the reforms path to "transform people's lives" and pointed to the introduction of goods and services tax ( GST ) helping lower prices of commodities.
"For us, reforms are a means to improve the lives of 140 crore Indians.
After the introduction of GST, goods for household use have become much cheaper .
Analysts were worried if the NDA regime would be able to push ahead with key changes as it marks a return of coalition.
This does away with the cascading effect of taxes or removes tax on tax, helping lower prices.Govt has listed several products to argue that the overall tax burden has come down.
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said that his govt is committed to moving ahead on the reforms path to "transform people's lives" and pointed to the introduction of goods and services tax ( GST ) helping lower prices of commodities."For us, reforms are a means to improve the lives of 140 crore Indians. After the introduction of GST, goods for household use have become much cheaper . This has resulted in significant savings for the poor and common man," PM tweeted, citing data to argue how levies had been lowered, helping reduce price of goods and services.Modi's comments signalled govt's intent to push reforms despite lower numbers in the Lok Sabha. Analysts were worried if the NDA regime would be able to push ahead with key changes as it marks a return of coalition. The overall expectation is that some of the legislative changes may have to wait while executive decisions will be implemented.The statement came ahead almost seven years after the GST was introduced as the biggest tax reforms post-Independence. While govt has cited the benefit flowing from GST, which subsumed multiple taxes and did away with several cesses and octroi, opposition has sought to paint it as a villain.The tax regime has helped establish a chain that checks evasion, while also ensuring that refund of levies paid at every stage of providing a good or a service - from raw material to finished products - is refunded through a system of tax credits. This does away with the cascading effect of taxes or removes tax on tax, helping lower prices.Govt has listed several products to argue that the overall tax burden has come down. For instance, mobile phones, refrigerators, washing machines, 32-inch TV sets and fans attracted 31.3% tax pre-GST, while consumers pay 18% when the new regime kicked in from July 2017.
