Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, said on Friday that the Union government had made all efforts to take all stakeholders into confidence on the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax from July 1.
Ms. Sitharaman told presspersons here that State governments, chartered accountants associations, cost accountants associations, small traders and other stakeholders were being taken into confidence on the GST. The consultation process had been happening over the months. All information on the GST had been given to them. All ministries of the Union government had geared up for the implementation of the GST, she said.
On a query as to why the reduction in the crude oil prices was not leading to an equal decline in the rates of petrol and diesel, Ms. Sitharaman said the rates of petrol and diesel were being regulated by oil companies. The government was using the revenue generated from it for construction of national highways, ports and other infrastructure projects, she said.
On the impact of protectionist measures being taken by the U.S. , Ms. Sitharaman said the National Association of Software and Services Companies had stated that there was need for panic on this count. There were no huge job losses in the country because of it. All it required was readjustment and change in business models of institutions in the country. “Our engagement with the U.S. authorities has been going on. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to go to the U.S. He will engage with the U.S. President,” she said.
To a query, Ms. Sitharaman said that the meat of cow, calves or oxen cannot be exported from the country. “India exports a lot of buffalo meat and that is not prohibited,” she said.
Ms. Sitharaman said the Union government had increased the import duty significantly after complaints from the local arecanut growers in the State that poor quality arecanut from Sri Lanka was flooding the local markets and was affecting the price of arecanut. This had provided relief to arecanut growers, she said.
Shobha Karandlaje, MP, and Raghupati Bhat, Lalaji Mendon, Mattar Ratnkar Hegde, Udaykumar Shetty, Katapady Shankar Poojary, all BJP leaders, were present.
