‘36.5% rise in indirect tax revenues, a huge positive’

India’s manufacturing sector is showing an uptick in growth and the current buoyancy in indirect tax collections validates this trend, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said.

More reforms in sectors such as power, railways and infrastructure will soon be rolled out to further boost economic growth and enhance investor confidence in India, Jaitley said at the opening session of the World Economic Forum’s ‘National Strategy Day on India’, jointly organised with Confederation of Indian Industry here on Wednesday.

Jaitley said that the Government was determined to see the land acquisition legislation passed in Parliament in the forthcoming session.

Till end-October this fiscal, indirect tax revenues grew 36.5 per cent and even if one excluded the additional revenue measures introduced earlier this year, the collections so far recorded 13.5 per cent growth (excise, customs and service tax), Jaitley said.

“Indirect tax figures are not assumed figures. These are real increases. This actually indicates that manufacturing itself is picking up,” Jaitley said.

On the Goods and Services Tax (GST), Jaitley said it is a matter of time before it is introduced.

The supporting legislation and the IT backbone are ready and there is little conceptual opposition to the idea. He said that the popular constituency that supports change, reform and growth is now much larger than before.

Jaitley said that the biggest problem for the Government was the power sector. He indicated that the Government would, in the next few days, announce some reforms in state electricity distribution companies.

The poor financial health of state distribution companies has led to a situation where more power is being produced than can be consumed — due to lack of last-mile connectivity — even as large parts of the country are without electricity.

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