Toning down the fear of reforms process might get affected due to apprehension of early elections, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram has said that the elected government has to work every day till the last day of its term.
Addressing India Summit, organised by the Economist Magazine , he said: “Indian economy will continue to reform.’’
He listed the passage of Land and Insurance Bills besides executive action on coal, road and rail regulators on priority.
“We have taken some courageous steps. However, much more to be done. Many Bills to be passed,’’ he said, while sincerely making an appeal to the Opposition to co-operate in the passage of key legislation.
The Government aims to get the Land Bill to be passed in the ongoing session itself.
Goods and Services Tax
Talking on Goods and Services Tax (GST), he said that there is 70 per cent chance for this important tax reform to take place in the next 13 months.
“We have reached a stage when the empowered committee has authorised us to draft. If these drafts are endorsed by the committee, then the percentage of possibility of GST will increase,’’ he said, adding a word of caution that these drafts will need to be debated.
Potential growth rate
Mentioning about growth, Chidambaram said: “Our potential growth rate is 8 per cent. If we are not doing, either we are not doing the right thing or we are doing wrong things.’’
However, he said that India’s growth is much better than its peers. In fact, it is three times that of the industrial world average.
Next Prime Minister?
When asked will he be the next Prime Minister. If UPA comes back to power, he said that he has no such expectations.
Further, responding to a question on becoming Finance Minister again, his response was: “I will remain a Congress Party worker. I would love to do party work.’’
Liberalising coal sector
Meanwhile, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia has advocated for opening up of coal sector.
"There is no rationale in keeping coal sector under control, when petroleum sector is a liberalised one. This is cross-sector inconsistency," he added.