GST May Push Up India's GDP by 1.4 -1.6%: Assocham.

Industry body Assocham on Thursday said implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) is expected to push the country's economic growth up by 1.4 per cent to 1.6 per cent.

The chamber added that GST may add Rs. 1.5 lakh crore annually to the government's revenues.

"The GST, likely to be introduced next year, will lead to buoyancy in government revenues by Rs. 1.5 lakh crore and increase the country's GDP by 1.4 to 1.6 per cent," it said.

It said to give a competitive edge to the Indian manufacturers, introduction of the GST will be a crucial reform to remove cascading of taxes and it would also lead to reduction in prices of most manufactured goods by about 10 per cent.

"The tax GDP ratio too may go up by 1.5 to 2 per cent with net revenue jumping by Rs. 1.5 lakh crore a year," it added.

Once implemented, GST will subsume indirect taxes like excise duty and service tax at the central level and VAT on the state front, besides other local levies.

The proposal for roll-out of GST, touted as the most significant indirect tax reform since the introduction of state-level VAT, has been hanging fire on account of persisting differences between the Centre and the states on the GST Constitution Amendment Bill.

Source : profit.ndtv.com