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Projecting Bengal as an attractive investment destination and the Trinamool Congress as pro-industry, State Finance and Industry Minister Amit Mitra said his party was the first to support the Goods and Services Tax (GST) as early as 2009.
According to Mitra, who is also Chairman of the Empowered Committee of Finance Ministers on GST, the support for the legislation came from the Trinamool Congress party supremo, Mamata Banerjee, at a time when “most political parties were not even aware of it”.
Banerjee has been one of the most vocal supporters of GST. Her push for the legislation is seen by political observers as an attempt to have a pro-industry image.
Considered to be India’s biggest ever indirect tax reform, the Constitutional amendments to the GST Bill were debated in the Rajya Sabha recently.
“Way back in 2009, Mamata Banerjee – the then Railway Minister under UPA-II regime – lent her support to GST. At that time, most political parties were not even aware of what GST was,” he said at the FICCI Banking Conclave. According to Mitra, GST seeks to create a “political economy” as it ensures that inflationary effects are not passed on to the common man.
“GST seeks to create a political economy. It is not just a corporate tax proposal. It has also ensured that the common man is not affected by the tax burden being passed on to them,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mitra pointed out that nearly 717 gram panchayats in Bengal, which have a population of over 5,000 people, do not have banks.
He urged banks, including the country’s largest bank, State Bank of India, to come up with “brick-and-mortar branches”.
The State government has said is willing to provide office spaces – between 300 sq feet and 500 sq feet – at the various gram panchayat offices so that bank branches come up.
“Bandhan (Bank) has promised 55 branches in such areas; and, another 50-odd by other banks. But there is still a huge number that has to be covered. I urge banks to come up with branches in these areas by the end of this year,” he said.
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