Congress demands official discussion paper on GST 2.0 after PM Modi announces reforms
Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh, in a statement, laid down the party's demand, saying that GST should be truly a Good and Simple Tax, not 'Growth Suppressing Tax.
'The Indian National Congress demands an official discussion paper on GST 2.0 very soon so that there can be an informed and wider debate on this vital and pressing national issue. GST 2.0 should be truly a Good and Simple Tax (GST) in letter, spirit, and compliance, not like the Growth Suppressing Tax (GST) it has become,' Jairam Ramesh said.
https://x.com/Jairam_Ramesh/status/1956572770516545548
Speaking about PM's announcement, Jairam Ramesh said, 'PM seem to have finally woken up' and realised that transformation is required for economic growth.
'Yesterday, the Prime Minister seems to have finally woken up to the fact that economic growth will simply not accelerate unless this transformation takes place and increases private consumption and private investment,' he said in a statement.
The Rajya Sabha MP advised that there should be a drastic reduction in the rates, simplification of the rate structure to minimise revenue uncertainty for states.
'Over the last seven years, the spirit of GST has been vitiated by an increased number of rates and the granting of multiple exemptions. The structure also seems to have facilitated evasion. There must be a drastic reduction in the number of rates. Simplification of the rate structure is essential, but must be done in a manner that minimises revenue uncertainty to states and also eliminates the classification disputes that have become so common. The GST compensation cess expires on March 31, 2026. This must be extended to offset any revenue uncertainty from the rationalisation of the rate structure,' Jairam Ramesh said.
'The widespread concerns of MSMEs the major employment generators in the economy must be addressed meaningfully. Apart from major procedural changes, this will involve further increasing the thresholds that must apply to interstate supplies as well. Sectoral issues that have surfaced for instance in textiles, tourism, exporters, handicrafts and agricultural inputs must be tackled. In addition, states should be incentivized to move towards the introduction of state-level GST to cover electricity, alcohol, petroleum, and real estate as well,' he added.
On Friday, PM Modi announced that the government is set to bring a major reform in the Goods and Services Tax (GST), which will give significant relief to consumers and small businesses.
Addressing the nation on Independence Day from the Red Fort, PM Modi stated that the revisions in the GST would be rolled out around Diwali, describing them as a 'double Diwali gift' for the people.
PM Modi said, 'This Diwali, I am going to give you a 'double Diwali' gift. A major announcement is coming for the people of the country. Over the past eight years, we implemented a major GST reform that significantly reduced the tax burden across the nation. Now, after eight years, the time has come to review it. We have formed a high-powered committee to begin this review process and have held consultations with the states as well. We are now bringing in next-generation GST reforms. This will become a Diwali gift for the nation.'
'Tax rates on essential goods and daily needs will be reduced under a simplified framework. This will bring significant relief and convenience. Our MSMEs and small industries will also benefit greatly from these changes,' he added. (ANI)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Star
4 hours ago
- The Star
The US will regret throwing India under the bus
US president Donald Trump has thrown India under the bus. After months of affronts and barbs, Washington now treats New Delhi more as foe than friend, undermining a relationship that several American administrations – including Trump's first – tried to strengthen, not least to contain China in the Indo-Pacific. Instead, India will now distance itself from the United States and draw closer to Russia and even China. By diplomatic standards, the deterioration has been abrupt. Contrast the vibe between Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on two occasions this year. In February, Modi visited Trump in the White House, and the pair looked like two populist peas in a pod. Gushing about his MAGA (Make America Great Again) host, Modi pledged to Make India Great Again and promised that 'MAGA plus MIGA becomes a mega partnership.' Fast forward to recent days, as Trump first slapped a draconian tariff of 25% on India, then doubled that to 50% (to take effect later this month) as punishment for India's ongoing imports of Russian oil. 'I don't care what India does with Russia,' Trump taunted. 'They can take their dead economies down together, for all I care.' (India's economy is in fact booming.) Nothing about this sounds mega. Trump's ire against India is 'mystifying' and 'shortsighted,' Lisa Curtis at the Center for a New American Security said. She's worked for almost three decades to deepen the relationship between the US and India, most recently on the National Security Council in Trump's first term. Like his Democratic predecessor and successor, Trump at that time also wanted to enlist the world's most populous democracy as an ally to help resist the looming autocratic axis of China and Russia. During the Cold War, India remained proudly 'non-aligned' but bought its weapons mainly from Moscow, whereas its arch-rival, Pakistan, mostly used American arms. In recent decades, though, these relationships inverted, with India nowadays buying more military kit from the US and other Western countries than from Russia, and Pakistan getting more weapons from China than the US. Other bonds between the US and India have also been thriving – just think of the Desi diasporas in Silicon Valley or academia, or the vice president's in-laws. America and Curtis, had especially high hopes for a budding quasi-alliance among the US, India, Australia and Japan. Called the Quad, it seeks to deepen cooperation in the Indo-Pacific to manage and protect maritime commerce, undersea cables, critical minerals and much else. It never prevented India from also maintaining ties with Russia and China – within the so-called BRICS format, notably. But Washington envisioned the Quad evolving into another of America's 'minilateral' alliances for mutual defence in Asia, with China in the role of bogey. Events are taking a different turn. In May, a terrorist attack in Kashmir sparked the latest clash between India and Pakistan. Worried about escalation between the two nuclear powers, the Trump administration urged both sides to stand down, which they eventually did. Then the narratives diverged. Trump repeatedly claimed full credit for being a peacemaker, even suggesting that he threatened India to make it climb down. Modi, and many Indians, were shocked. In previous crises, the US also calmed tempers behind the scenes, but India has always rejected official third-party mediation in its conflict with Pakistan. Now Modi felt humiliated. His government took the unusual step of publishing the minutes of a call between Trump and Modi, clarifying that 'at no point' was there any mediation by the US and that the ceasefire discussions 'took place directly between India and Pakistan.' Other Indian pundits were less diplomatic and almost poetic in their outrage over this 'typical Trump overreach.' Trump wasn't pleased. He was all the more delighted, though, when Pakistan praised his peacemaking prowess and hinted that it would nominate the president for the Nobel Peace Prize he openly covets. Trump then hosted Pakistan's top military official – whom India considers the mastermind of the recent terrorist attack – for lunch, and Pakistan promptly made the Nobel nomination official. Subsequently, Pakistan also bargained down the new American tariffs on its goods from 29% to 19% – relatively meek next to India's rate. None of this means that the US -Indian relationship is irredeemably broken. Trade negotiators are slated to meet again this month, and a deal remains conceivable. Still, Indians have taken note that Trump is cracking down hardest against India, a putative partner, for buying oil from Russia, and not on China, allegedly America's main adversary, which imports even more Russian oil. Nor are they thrilled about the surging deportations of Indians illegally in the US, the harassment of Indian (and all foreign) students on American campuses, and much else. The Quad, meanwhile, still exists. Its foreign ministers met just the other day, and India will host a summit of the four leaders this fall. But Trump's attendance is now in doubt. 'If the rhetoric remains acerbic, I have difficulty in seeing him going,' Curtis told me. His former rapport with the Indian leader is gone, she added: 'Prime Minister Modi is just not going to trust President Trump anymore.' That doesn't mean Modi will throw himself into the arms of Beijing – as my colleague Karishma Vaswani points out, India has other friends in Asia to help it keep an eye on China. But Modi is suddenly making plans to visit China for the first time in seven years, in what appears to be a diplomatic thaw. Meanwhile, the Russian president is arranging a trip to see Modi. America's strategy for more than a decade has been to pull India closer into the Western and democratic orbit as a counterweight to its main autocratic rivals and adversaries. Whether the result of design, neglect or whim, Washington's turn away from New Delhi cannot be seen as anything other than counterproductive. —Bloomberg Opinion/TNS
Daily Express
4 hours ago
- Daily Express
Washington regains control over police
Published on: Sunday, August 17, 2025 Published on: Sun, Aug 17, 2025 By: AFP Text Size: Trump placed Washington's Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) under federal control. WASHINGTON: The Justice Department reached an agreement on Friday with Washington authorities over control of the US capital's police department after President Donald Trump placed it under federal government control to tackle violent crime. The deal was hammered out at a federal court hearing held after the District's attorney general sued the Trump administration over what he called a 'hostile takeover' of the city's police force. Trump placed Washington's Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) under federal control on Monday and ordered the deployment of 800 National Guard troops onto the streets of the capital. Trump's attorney general, Pam Bondi, then issued an order on Thursday to install a hand-picked official – Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) chief Terry Cole – as 'emergency' police commissioner. Brian Schwalb, the attorney general for Washington, responded with a lawsuit arguing that federal law governing the capital 'does not authorize this brazen usurpation of the District's authority.' At the court hearing on Friday, District Judge Ana Reyes urged the two sides to work out a solution, and they agreed that Cole, rather than assuming direct control of the MPD, would give directives through the mayor's office. 'Mr. Cole is not going to be able to direct police department individuals to do anything,' Reyes said. 'He's going to have to go through the mayor.' Schwalb welcomed the agreement at a press conference following the court hearing. 'My expectation is that the key issue with respect to control and command of our MPD has been resolved today, and that it is clear as a matter of law that it is under the chief of police appointed by the mayor,' he said. 'We don't need a hostile takeover from the federal government to do what we do every day,' he said. Unlike the 50 states, Washington operates under a unique relationship with the federal government that limits its autonomy and grants Congress extraordinary control over local matters. Since the mid-1970s, the Home Rule Act has allowed residents to elect a mayor and a city council, although Congress still controls the city's budget. The overwhelmingly Democratic city faces allegations from Republican politicians that it is overrun by crime, plagued by homelessness and financially mismanaged. But data from Washington police show significant drops in violent crime between 2023 and 2024, although that was coming off the back of a post-pandemic surge. Bowser said earlier this week that violent crime was 'at its lowest level in 30 years.' Trump has also said he wants to tackle homeless encampments, and move those sleeping in public 'FAR from the Capital.' Washington is ranked 15th on a list of major US cities by homeless population, according to government statistics from last year. On his Truth Social platform, Trump this week described Washington as 'under siege from thugs and killers,' with higher crime rates than 'many of the most violent Third World Countries.' But residents rejected that depiction. 'It's totally false, and obviously promulgated on his media to justify an unwarranted exercise of federal power,' 81-year-old Larry Janezich told AFP on Thursday. * Follow us on our official WhatsApp channel and Telegram for breaking news alerts and key updates! * Do you have access to the Daily Express e-paper and online exclusive news? Check out subscription plans available. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express's Telegram channel. Daily Express Malaysia
Malaysia Sun
11 hours ago
- Malaysia Sun
"May India-Israel friendship continue to flourish": PM Modi thanks Israeli PM Netanyahu on Independence Day wishes
New Delhi [India], August 16 (ANI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday expressed thanks to his Israeli counterpart after Benjamin Netanyahu wished him and the people of India on the 79th Independence Day. PM Modi said in a post on X, 'Thank you PM Netanyahu for your warm wishes. May India-Israel friendship continue to both countries further strengthen and deepen this relationship bringing peace, development as well as security to our people.' Earlier on Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on extended warm greetings to India on the occasion of its 79th Independence Day. In a series of posts on X shared on the Israeli Prime Minister's account, Netanyahu said, 'Congratulations to my dear friend @PMOIndia @narendramodi and the people of India on your Independence Day' Highlighting that India and Israel are proud democracies bound by history, innovation and friendship, Netanyahu said that the best chapters of the partnership still lie ahead. 'Israel and India are two proud democracies, bound by history, innovation, and friendship. Our nations have achieved much together and the best chapters of our partnership still lie ahead.' In his 12th Independence Day address to the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort on Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered bold announcements that indicate India is poised to make significant progress into the Modi outlined plans for various initiatives, including the production of India's first semiconductor chip, the development of jet engines, the creation of 1 lakh crore in youth employment opportunities, and a tenfold expansion of the nuclear program. He presented his vision for 'Naya Bharat' (New India) and set the goal of transforming India into a developed nation by 2047. On India's 79th Independence Day, warm wishes and greetings poured in from across the world, reflecting the country's growing global stature and strong international friendships. (ANI)
