How GST Will Change the Face of Indian Economy

The GST roll out will prove to be a revolutionary step and has potential to transform the "fiscal architecture" of the government
Indian truck drivers clock an average of 280 km per day, World average is 400 km per day and USA average is 700 km  The under performance of Indian truckers has less to do with bad roads and less fancy trucks and more about prevailing archaic laws.Truck drivers in India spend 60 per cent of their time off roads negotiating check posts and toll plazas 650-odd check posts and 11 categories of taxes on the road transport sector in India.Slow movement of trucks  leads to productivity loss. If the distance covered goes up by 20% per day, Indian truck productivity would improve by 12%.Higher productivity would cut the need for buffer stocks; reduce the loss of perishable goods, cut down the need for many warehouses, etc.Analysts say the implementation of the goods and services tax (GST) could provide the kind of productivity boost illustrated above. 

The benefits of GST:Unified market: The GST will cut down the large number of taxes imposed by the central government (eg. central VAT or excise duty, services tax, central sales tax on inter-state sales, etc.) and states (VAT on sales, entertainment tax, luxury tax and octroi and entry taxes levied by municipalities). This will lead to the creation of a unified market, which would facilitate seamless movement of goods across states and reduce the transaction cost of businesses.

Article by Paritosh Vyas, Bhartiya Janta Party

#PoliticsofDevelopment #GST #PleaseParliamentRun

Government distribute 2 crore of LED bulbs, saves 1,000 crore a year

The Narendra Modi government's program to get consumers to replace less efficient CFL or incandescent lights with latest LED bulbs is gaining momentum, with the number of bulbs distributed crossing the 2-crore mark and generating annual savings of over Rs 1,000 crore.

Data available with the government showed that more than 2 crore subsidized LED bulbs had been distributed under the Domestic Efficient Lighting Program till Thursday evening, helping in daily energy savings of 73 lakh units, which translates into Rs 2.9 crore a day.

With the program gaining momentum, lighting giant Philips and other companies have shown interest in setting up manufacturing facility in the country given that the scale is suddenly looking much bigger than what they had originally anticipated. The government is looking to provide 77 crore bulbs by 2018.

"Since the order was small, parts of components are being imported. But now everyone is saying we want to manufacture in India," power minister Piyush Goyal told TOI. He said an earlier skepticism is giving way to genuine interest in the Indian market.

The DELP was launched by Modi on January 5. The scheme also fits well with the Modi government's strategy for climate talks since it is helping reduce the carbon footprint as well as reducing peak power demand by close to 700 MW through lower energy consumption. 

Although some of the states had been slow off the block, they are now gaining pace. Among the states, Andhra Pradesh is currently way ahead of the pack with 65 lakh bulbs, followed by Delhi at a little under 34 lakh and Uttar Pradesh at 33 lakh. Guntur in Andhra appeared to be the top performing district in the country, with 18.6 lakh LED bulbs. 

Goyal said hard bargain has seen bulb prices come down from Rs 310 for a 7W bulb to Rs 73 for a 9W bulb last month with "no compromise on technical aspects, or on the qualification criteria". The government is now looking to place an order for 10 crore bulbs, the minister said.