PANAJI: Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Monday appealed to industry bodies to work towards passing on the benefits of the newly introduced GST reforms to the common people of the state.
He said that the benefits of these reforms should reach the commonest people in the state, which is the aim of Prime Minister Narendra Modi behind introducing them.
Sawant was speaking during an event organised by the Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industry, attended by prominent industrialists from the state in Panaji on Monday.
The Chief Minister said that the tourism and export industries will be among the biggest beneficiaries of these reforms. He added that the GST reforms will also help ease of living for common people, as the tax on certain essential commodities has been reduced to zero.
Everybody should know the benefits they can derive from GST 2.0. We should pass on these benefits to the people of Goa, he said.
Sawant, who represents Goa on the GST Council, said that during the meeting held to discuss reforms, it was initially expected that deliberations would continue for two days.
The meeting, which began at 10 am, continued until 11 pm before unanimously passing the reforms. It was difficult to reach consensus initially, but through deliberations, everyone came on the same page, he said.
He added that apprehensions were raised that the reforms might hurt the revenue collection of states in the initial stages. We were aware that in the initial stage, the reforms would result in a revenue loss for the states. But eventually, we are passing on the benefits to the people of our country, Sawant said.
The Chief Minister also noted that measures like a 90 per cent rebate on export duty, simplification of registration procedures, and the establishment of a tribunal to settle disputes will go a long way in popularising the one-nation-one-tax concept introduced eight years ago.
