World will follow Indian GST module, says M Venkaiah Naidu

Chennai: Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday said India's Goods and Services Tax would usher in long-term gains despite initial hiccups and expressed confidence that the world would take a cue from the GST experiment.

"GST is the biggest transformation of the world, I can tell you; because it is going to bring a sea-change. There were problems initially. (In) any reforms for that matter, there will be initial problems... temporary pains for long term gains, that is the experience," Naidu said, delivering his valedictory address at the Global Investors Meet (GIM) here.

Complimenting the delegates who had come from all over the world as well as the captains of the Indian industry gathered at the hugely attended conference, Naidu said they had done the right thing in choosing to do business in Tamil Nadu, which he described as one of the best investment destinations in the country-thanks to its stable government, healthy industrial environment, peaceful law and order situation, well-trained human resources and efficient bureaucracy.

Doing business in India has now become much cheaper and faster through GST and other tax reforms and digital processing single interface and single window system, he said, even as he pointed out at India gaining places on the ease of doing business index.

"You will see in the coming days the entire world is going to take a cue from the GST experiment so that there is no pilferage, no leakage and there is no waiting," he said. Lot of people have come under the tax net and everything is going to be made online so that one need not stand in a line, the vice president said, adding that the Centre's aim was to ensure that everything went digital as that would ensure speed to the process of sanctions and decision-making, besides eliminating corruption.

Hailing India's "captivating growth story", he said the country was being lauded by international organisations like the World Bank and the IMF. "India of today is a land of infinite possibilities and tremendous opportunities", he said.

The Vice President spoke from his heart and spoke like a true statesman, warmly acknowledging that the Indian liberalisation policy was authored by the regime of P.V Narasimha Rao as the Prime Minister and Dr Manmohan Singh as his Minister. "They may belong to a different party (Congress) but the reforms started at that time", he said.

The liberalisation process picked up momentum under Atal Bihari Vajpayee as Prime Minister, as he ushered in a new 'connectivity revolution' in different sectors like telecom, rural roads, air, rail and port connectivity. "He even brought political connectivity," Naidu said in lighter vein. He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi through various measures and reforms has ensured that the fundamentals of the Indian economy were strong as it continues on the growth trajectory. "The reforms taken by the government in the past few years has made India the top destination for investments in the world," he said, adding that while 2018 was 'replete' with external vulnerabilities, increasing oil prices, economies 'veering' towards protection and trade wars 'brewing' between major global trading partners, India still managed to maintain its steady course, he said.

One of the reasons for this was the robustness of India's institutions, Naidu said. He said though the agriculture sector "is facing some problems" the Central Government, the States, and all the political parties were focusing attention on the farm sector.. "We want to make agriculture a viable, sustainable profession," he said.

Naidu cautioned against rising inequality across the world and urged that all forms of inequality must be brought down. "The Indian government, Indian states are moving in that direction," he said.