Will further improve India’s ranking in WB’s ease of doing business index

Almost all the woes being faced by businesses and traders under the four-month-old Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime would likely be resolved by the GST Council at its November 10 meeting, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday.

India’s 100th rank in the World Bank’s latest ease of doing business report, he said, came without the GST being factored in.

Similar reforms that are in the gestation and stabilization phase should prop up the country further in the rankings, Mr Modi said at an Industry Ministry event to mark India’s rise in the World Bank ranking.

“Although I have not yet received a verbatim report on this, I am happy to say that the Group of Ministers set up by the GST Council, from whatever little information I have, I can say that almost all issues raised by ordinary traders and businesses and their suggestions are being positively accepted,” Mr. Modi said.

“If no State creates difficulties at the meeting of the GST Council on [November] 9 and 10 then I believe all necessary changes will be brought in to give new strength to India’s business community and the economy,” the Prime Minister said.

“Despite that, whatever hurdles come up going forward will be dealt with.”

The GST Council, chaired by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, had already announced several relief measures for small businesses and exporters at its meeting on October 6 and is slated to meet next over November 9-10 in Guwahati.

Apart from restructuring of tax rates for specific products and services, procedural changes and expansion of the composition scheme for smaller businesses are likely to be considered.

“When we decided to introduce GST, people felt unsure whether it will come or not, if it will roll out from July 1 or not. Once it happened, they thought ‘Mar Gaye’ (‘We are done for’)… this is Modi and he won’t fix anything,” the PM recalled.

“We had said then, let us observe it closely for three months, because India is so large and all the wisdom doesn’t reside in Delhi. The common man also understands… We will glean from them, learn, analyse the difficulties, find solutions and three months later, when the Council met, whatever had come up by then was resolved,” he said.