New Delhi: Home Minister Rajnath Singh in a statement said today that the central government is now open to a further review of the Goods and Services Tax over different items as it has just reduced taxes of not more than 88 consumer-centric products like refrigerators, washing machines, and sanitary napkins.

The statement by the Minister was made by him during the inauguration of the National Traders’ Conclave organized by the Confederation of All-India Traders. He further said that the economic reforms undertaken by the government of Narendra Modi for the last four years will certainly push India among the world’s topmost economies.

“GST rates of several items have recently been slashed and many items have been brought under zero percent and five percent slabs. The government is open to a further review of the slabs,” he said.

The Goods and Services Tax Council approved rate reductions for up to 88 consumer-centric items such as cosmetics, refrigerators, washing machines, and small screen televisions, and cleared the widely demanded exemption on sanitary napkins. The approval was made during the council’s 28^th meeting.

The home minister further said that around 1.25 crore out of 6.5 crore traders and shopkeepers have registered under the new indirect tax regime. According to the Economic Survey, more than 1.15 crore returns have been filed for the period 2016-2017.

The Goods and Services Tax reform is a major reform in the Indian taxation system where only 6.10 crore people are under the taxation regime out of a population of more than 130 crores, he said.

According to a survey conducted in 2014 by a reputed consultancy firm, Mr. Singh said, India was ranked in 9^th position among the world’s top 10 economies and as of now the country has gone ahead of France to the sixth position.

“I am confident, as economists predict that in the next two-three years, India’s economy will be among the top five. With this pace of GDP growth, by 2030 we will break into the world’s top three economies,” he said.

The Home Minister also asserted that India is seen as the most attractive destination for foreign investors and the country received more than USD 150 billion Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) in the last four years, while in “Ease of Doing Business”, the country’s ranking has improved from last 142 to 100.

“Besides, the manufacturing sector has got a fillip with the ‘Make in India’ programme. In 2014, there were only two mobile phone factories in India, today we have 120 handset manufacturing units,” he said.

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