Podcasts about gst council

Customers of private health insurance policies in India have noticed a worrying trend – their premium costs are shooting up, and, going by the many stories on social media, rejection of claims is also on the rise. Add to this the 18% GST that is charged on premiums, and it is no wonder that many say they are choosing to not renew their policies altogether. Healthcare remains one of those most expensive aspects of an individual's life in India – with medical inflation rates at 14% and about 60% of the country using private healthcare services, the fear that one episode of illness in a family member could put the family in debt for years, is not unfounded. So what are the regulations around the medical insurance sector in India? Why are health insurance premiums rising? Will the GST Council meeting next month decrease the rates and will this benefit customers? And is health insurance really the right model for universal health coverage in India? Guest: Prof. Indranil Mukopadhyay, Professor and Health Economist, at OP Jindal Global University Host: Zubeda Hamid Edited by Sharmada Venkatasubramanian

In this podcast, Kushal speaks with Ajau Rotti about the GST Council's clarification: ready-to-eat popcorn will be taxed at 5%, pre-packaged popcorn will be subject to 12% GST, & caramel popcorn will attract 18% GST. Follow Ajay: Twitter: @ajayrotti #55thgstcouncilmeeting #gstcouncilmeeting2024 #nirmalasitharaman ------------------------------------------------------------ Listen to the podcasts on: SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/kushal-mehra-99891819 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1rVcDV3upgVurMVW1wwoBp Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-c%C4%81rv%C4%81ka-podcast/id1445348369 Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/show/the-carvaka-podcast ------------------------------------------------------------ Support The Cārvāka Podcast: Buy Kushal's Book: https://amzn.in/d/58cY4dU Become a Member on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKPx... Become a Member on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/carvaka UPI: kushalmehra@icici To buy The Carvaka Podcast Exclusive Merch please visit: http://kushalmehra.com/shop ------------------------------------------------------------ Follow Kushal: Twitter: https://twitter.com/kushal_mehra?ref_... Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KushalMehraO... Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thecarvakap... Koo: https://www.kooapp.com/profile/kushal... Inquiries: https://kushalmehra.com/ Feedback: kushalmehra81@gmail.com

Welcome to Top of the Morning by Mint, your weekday newscast that brings you five major stories from the world of business. It's Monday, June 24, 2024. My name is Nelson John. Let's get started:Let's first jump onto the clean energy bandwagon. The Adani Group plans to invest between 25,000 and 27,000 crore rupees (or close to 3 billion dollars) in its first pumped-storage hydropower (PSH) facility. According to Mint's Anirudh Laskar, Adani Green will set up 5 gigawatts of PSH capacity over the next five years. This process involves moving water between two reservoirs at different elevations to generate electricity, essentially functioning like a giant battery that stores power during periods of low demand, and releasing it when needed. This technology is particularly essential for ensuring stable, round-the-clock power supply, unlike the intermittent nature of solar and wind energy. The planned facilities will be located across Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana.Diving into our second highlight of the day: In a world increasingly shaped by technology, smartphones may soon face obsolescence. The smartphone, often hailed as the Swiss Army Knife of the digital age, is now threatened by innovations like extended reality glasses, gesture-based interfaces, and brain-computer interfaces such as Elon Musk's Neuralink. Musk envisions a future where devices, such as the Neuralink, could render smartphones redundant by directly interfacing with the human brain to perform all the current functions of smartphones. And it isn't just Musk. Tech and internet analysts have long speculated about a future where wearables and embedded chips could supplant the functions of smartphones. What challenges could this future pose, and which technologies could dominate this transformative tech landscape? Mint's Leslie D'Monte explores these questions in today's Mint primer.Now, we will shift focus to regulatory developments: Indian authorities are looking to expand their scrutiny beyond LinkedIn and Samsung to include more local branches of multinational corporations. In fact, six unlisted Indian units of MNCs are now under the lens of the Registrars of Companies. Officials are meticulously reviewing disclosures and shareholding information of these companies, as reported by Mint's Gireesh Chandra Prasad. Earlier this month, the RoC in Uttar Pradesh found that two Samsung subsidiaries had failed to adequately disclose Samsung Electronics' executive chairman Lee Jae-Yong as a “significant beneficial owner." Last month, LinkedIn's Indian subsidiary was penalised 27 lakh rupees for failing to comply with SBO reporting standards, involving several top executives, including Microsoft's CEO. A source informed Gireesh that India's business landscape is expanding rapidly, with approximately 150,000 new entities registering annually. This growth underscores the need for stringent regulatory oversight to maintain order and prevent future complications.Moving on to our fourth story of the day. In a rapidly growing economy like India, the challenge of generating sufficient jobs to meet demand is formidable. Despite significant economic growth, many educated young Indians find themselves underemployed, leading to widespread frustration and discontent among the youth. This employment crisis has also had political implications, as evidenced in the recent election outcomes, which saw the ruling BJP lose its absolute majority, resulting in a coalition government. Compounding these challenges is the widening economic disparity with the wealthiest 1% of Indians controlling 40% of the nation's wealth, while the bottom 50% owning just 6.4%. Despite these challenges, experts said the government's significant investments in capital expenditure has been pivotal in driving India's rapid economic growth.As Prime Minister Modi begins his third term, there is increasing focus on recalibrating economic policies to ensure inclusive growth across all segments of society. Mint's senior editor N Madhavan examines the need for Modi 3.0 to craft a new economic blueprint. Wrapping up today's episode with some positive news for consumers: In a meeting held in New Delhi on Saturday, the GST Council, chaired by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, announced significant reductions in tax rates on essential items, as well as measures to simplify business operations. The tax rate on everyday items such as milk cans and solar cookers has been reduced from 18% to a more consumer-friendly 12%. Besides, students will also benefit from GST exemptions on hostel stays exceeding 90 days, provided the monthly fee is below 20,000 rupees. Furthermore, in a move aimed at easing costs for daily commuters, GST has been waived on platform tickets and other railway-related services. E-commerce sellers will also see a reduction in the tax collected at source from 1% to 0.5%, which is expected to free up working capital for thousands of small and mid-sized businesses. The Council also proposed legislative changes to provide relief to businesses, including waivers on penalties and interest for tax demands from the early years of GST implementation, provided these are settled if settled by March 2025. Mint's Gireesh Chandra Prasad provides further insights into these developments. We'd love to hear your feedback on this podcast. Let us know by writing to us at feedback@livemint.com. You may send us feedback, tips or anything that you feel we should be covering from your vantage point in the world of business and finance.That's all for today. Thank you for listening.We're eagerly looking forward to our next Top of the Morning episode, which will be packed with fresh business news. Until then, have a great day!Show notes:Adani Group plans $3-billion push for new clean-energy businessMint Primer: Will XR glasses, Neuralinks kill smartphones?Indian units of more MNCs under beneficial ownership glareWhy Modi 3.0 needs a new economic blueprint53rd GST Council meeting: exemptions and rate cuts

Welcome to Top of the Morning by Mint, your weekday newscast that brings you five major stories from the world of business. It's Monday, May 20, 2024. My name is Nelson John. Let's get started:What used to be the poster child of Indian startups and had a presence everywhere, from the FIFA World Cup to the Indian Cricket Team's jersey - Byju's - has witnessed a fall from grace over the last two years. The company, which was once a unicorn saw a 95% nosedive in its value. The Bengaluru-based company's woes do not seem to end. Rajnish Kumar and T.V. Mohandas Pai, advisors on the panel of Byju's parent company Think & Learn, have decided not to extend their tenure beyond June 30. This adds to the challenges faced by the company, as it navigates board exits, financial troubles, and increasing litigation. Both advisors have chosen to leave due to the company's ongoing legal entanglements, report Mint's senior editors Gopika Gopakumar and Varun Sood. The advisory panel, established in July last year following notable resignations from the board due to governance concerns, was part of a strategy to address these corporate governance issues. Unfortunately, Byju's continued to face operational challenges, including the inability to secure additional funding, leading to layoffs and delayed salaries.In the past three years up to March 2023, a staggering revelation came from India's food safety authorities: out of 43 million food samples tested, a quarter did not meet domestic food safety laws. Alarmingly, one in six of these were found to be either 'unsafe' or 'substandard,' while the remainder failed to adhere to labelling laws, often misleading consumers with incorrect information. While India's food safety regulator, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India or FSSAI, did initiate litigation against these outliers, what they forgot to do was inform the citizens about them. Fssai and state agencies have not sufficiently informed the public about the specific manufacturers or brands involved, leaving consumers uninformed about potentially harmful products. The lack of transparency is evident in Fssai's 2021-22 annual report, which notably omits any mention of product recalls or license cancellations — standard practices in many other countries to protect consumers. Mint's Sayantan Bera and Suneera Tandon spoke to FSSAI insiders to understand why the central government agency has failed to crack the whip on companies selling substandard products, amidst global scrutiny of Indian packaged food brands. Sayantan and Suneera also break down the challenges being faced by the FSSAI including a lack of testing labs.The Financial Services Institutions Bureau, an autonomous body under the central government, is set to conduct interviews on May 21 to recommend a candidate for the chairman's post of the country's largest bank - the State Bank of India. This decision will be finalised on the same day, replacing the incumbent Dinesh Kumar Khara who is slated to retire on August 28.The candidates in consideration for the chairman's position are State Bank of India's (SBI) three managing directors—C.S. Setty, Ashwini Kumar Tewari, and Vinay M. Tonse. Mint's banking editor Gopika Gopakumar reports on the closely monitored selection process. C.S. Setty, the most senior among the candidates, has a background in managing the bank's stressed assets and comprehensive experience across various banking verticals. Ashwini Kumar Tewari brings a strong international and corporate banking portfolio, having managed SBI's operations in the U.S. and as the former CEO of SBI Card. Vinay M. Tonse, who oversees retail banking, has a deep understanding of the domestic market and a record of effective team-building.Last year, online gaming companies in India were hit with a significant tax demand totaling over ₹1.12 trillion from their past revenues, leading to a legal challenge currently pending in the Supreme Court. The GST Council, the central body overseeing indirect taxation, is set to deliberate on this issue, considering the industry's plea for relief from these substantial tax claims. Previously, the tax regime for online gaming was ambiguous, with companies paying an 18% GST on platform fees or commissions, which range from 5% to 20% of the deposits. However, a dramatic shift occurred on October 1, 2023, when the GST Council imposed a 28% tax on the full face value of deposits, retroactively applying this rate to past earnings. Mint's Gireesh Chandra Prasad reports that the central and state GST officials are currently reviewing the grievances expressed by the industry regarding the notices for the period leading up to October 2023. As the summer holiday season kicks off, the limitations of the Indian passport become glaringly apparent. According to the Henley Passport Index, out of 227 possible destinations, Indians can enter 31 countries without a visa and get a visa-on-arrival in 30 countries. This totals visa-free access to just 61 countries, leaving the vast majority requiring a visa obtained through traditional, more cumbersome means. Compare that with Brazil, where folks enjoy visa-free access to a whopping 173 countries. Even Russia, despite facing international sanctions, can access 120 countries relatively freely. It's a bit of an eye-opener, especially considering India's status as one of the world's fastest-growing economies. Visa-free access isn't just about economics, writes independent journalist Deepa Vasudevan. It's also influenced by a mix of factors like geography and reciprocal agreements. Take the European Union or the Asean bloc, for instance, where members enjoy hopping across each other's borders without much fuss. We'd love to hear your feedback on this podcast. Let us know by writing to us at feedback@livemint.com. You may send us feedback, tips or anything that you feel we should be covering from your vantage point in the world of business and finance. Show notes:Byju's woes worsen: Rajnish Kumar, Mohandas Pai to step down from advisory panelIn a pickle: Why it's time for Fssai to wake up and crack the whipAt India's biggest bank, a new chairman to be anointed this weekGST Council to hear gaming firms' plea on past tax demandsMint Primer: Beam me up, Scotty... into the boardroom

Welcome back to THE IAS COMPANION Title: Navigating Centre-State Relations & Fiscal Federalism Overview: Explore the dynamic interplay between the Centre and states in India's federal system, focusing on legislative, administrative, and financial relations. Key Points: Introduction: Delve into the unique federal structure of India, balancing powers between the Centre and states while ensuring effective governance. Legislative Relations: Unravel the distribution of legislative powers, delineated by territorial extent, subject jurisdiction, and Centre's control over state legislation. Administrative Relations: Analyze the cooperative framework between the Centre and states, emphasizing shared obligations, mutual delegation of functions, and mechanisms for administrative flexibility. Financial Relations: Navigate the intricate landscape of fiscal federalism, encompassing tax allocation, revenue distribution, grants-in-aid, borrowing powers, and the role of statutory bodies like the GST Council and Finance Commission. Constitutional Provisions: Explore the constitutional safeguards and provisions governing Centre-state interactions, including coercive measures during non-compliance and interventions during emergencies. Case Studies & Examples: Illustrate theoretical concepts with practical examples from India's federal system, highlighting the complexities and nuances of inter-governmental relations. Critical Evaluation: Engage with scholarly discourse on Indian federalism, evaluating its efficacy, challenges, and potential areas for reform. Conclusion: Reflect on the evolving nature of Centre-state relations and fiscal federalism in India, emphasizing the importance of adaptability, cooperation, and balanced governance for national progress and unity. #UPSC #IASprep #civilserviceexam #IASexamination #IASaspirants #UPSCjourney #IASexam #civilservice #IASgoals #UPSC2024 #IAS2024 #civilservant #IAScoaching #aUPSCmotivation #IASmotivation #UPSCpreparation #IASpreparation #UPSCguide #IASguide #UPSCtips #IAStips #UPSCbooks #IASbooks #UPSCexamstrategy #IASexamstrategy #UPSCmentorship #IASmentorship #UPSCcommunity #IAScommunity #UPSCpreparation #IASpreparation #UPSCguide #IASguide #UPSCtips #IAStips #UPSCbooks #IASbooks #UPSCexamstrategy #IASexamstrategy #UPSCmentorship #IASmentorship #UPSCcommunity #IAScommunity --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/theiascompanion/message

The GST Council has spoken, and the much-debated 28% tax rate has come into effect. In light of this tax, one small startup has already shut shop. The crux — fantasy and real-money gaming startups will need to pay 28% of their revenue as tax, before a 30% TDS for gamers if they withdraw what they win. Under such a high tax slab, can India's online gaming startups survive? We decode the impact.

Recently the GST Council decided to tax online gaming at 28% on the full-face value of the placed bets. How will this impact the online gaming sector? As government sources estimate, will it lead to a 10-fold jump in tax collections? What could be the unintended consequences? Suman Joshi and Sarthak Pradhan discuss this in this episode of All Things Policy. Do follow IVM Podcasts on social media. We are @‌IVMPodcasts on Facebook, Twitter, & Instagram. https://twitter.com/IVMPodcasts https://www.instagram.com/ivmpodcasts/?hl=en https://www.facebook.com/ivmpodcasts/ You can check out our website at https://shows.ivmpodcasts.com/featured Follow the show across platforms: Spotify, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, JioSaavn, Gaana, Amazon Music Do share the word with your folks!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today's episode for 13th July 2023, we explain a bizarre decision of the GST Council to increase taxes on real-money online gaming companies like Dream11, Gameskraft, and Games24x7. If you're a person who is great at communicating and are enthusiastic to join our team, Ditto is looking to recruit new Insurance advisors. You don't even have to know about Insurance, we would train you from scratch and you can enjoy working remotely with a great team. If you're interested in this or know someone who is please click this link - bit.ly/3rnVoKv

In its 50th meeting, the GST Council recommended a 28 per cent GST on online gaming, casinos, and horse racing, leading to concerns within the gaming industry. This has led to concerns in the gaming industry regarding the potential impact on investments, job opportunities, and the overall economy. In this latest episode of the News Explained podcast, Shishir Sinha, Associate Editor, provides insights into the outcomes of the 15th GST Council meeting and its impact on various sectors.  The government focuses on treating these activities as acceptable claims rather than distinguishing between games of skill and games of chance. This decision will have implications for the taxation of these sectors.  The council took several decisions, including the exemption of GST on the cancer treatment drug Dinutuximab (Quarziba) when imported for personal use. This move aims to alleviate the financial burden on patients requiring life-saving medications. The exemption does not extend to the input by companies or the industry.  Another significant development in the meeting was the discussion around utility vehicles. The GST Council recommended parameters for defining these vehicles, including length, engine capacity, and ground clearance. Utility vehicles meeting these criteria will attract a 20 per cent GST, potentially impacting pricing and consumer choices. The automobile sector is awaiting further clarification through a final circular to understand the implications more clearly.  As the discussions and recommendations from the GST Council meeting progress, legislative changes may be required. The process involves the submission of proposals to parliament for potential changes in legislation. Circulars and instructions issued by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), and state GST departments ensure the implementation of these recommendations nationwide. Listen in.   --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/business-line/message

Aaj ke episode me baat karenge GST Council ke 50th meeting me kin-2 cheezo ke GST rates me aai katoti, saath hi ek warning Delhi walon ke liye jo rehte hai Yamuna kinare

49th GST COUNCIL MEETING UPDATE - AMNESTY SCHEME AND MANY MORE

Despite nearly 6 years of implementation of GST in India, the GST Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT) is yet to be constituted. While the GST Council is set to deliberate upon the issue, setting up the GSTAT presents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to create a resilient and state-of-the-art dispute resolution mechanism in the country. In this episode, Sarthak Pradhan & Shrikrishna Upadhaya speak to Jatin Christopher (Partner, JCSS, Bengaluru) & Surya Prakash B.S. (Programme Director, DAKSH, Bengaluru) on the work of the Coalition of GSTAT in advocating for institutional design, operating model, and legal framework for a truly modern GSTAT. They discuss the role and importance of a citizen-centric and independent GSTAT, principles of institutional design that must back the structure of GSTAT, and the vexed issue of the federal nature of dispute resolution under the GST laws. Readings: Joint Note on the Constitution of the GST Appellate Tribunal by Coalition for the GSTAT in India  A Note on GSTAT: State Level vs National Level by Coalition for the GSTAT in India You can follow Sarthak Pradhan on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PSarthak19 You can follow Shrikrishna Upadhaya on Twitter: https://twitter.com/shrikrishna5 You can follow Jatin Christopher on Twitter: https://twitter.com/jatin_jcss You can follow Surya Prakash B.S on Twitter: https://twitter.com/SuryaPrakashBS  Check out Takshashila's courses: https://school.takshashila.org.in/ Do follow IVM Podcasts on social media. We are @IVMPodcasts on Facebook, Twitter, & Instagram. https://twitter.com/IVMPodcasts https://www.instagram.com/ivmpodcasts/?hl=en https://www.facebook.com/ivmpodcasts/ You can check out our website at https://shows.ivmpodcasts.com/featured Follow the show across platforms: Spotify, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, JioSaavn, Gaana, Amazon Music Do share the word with your folks!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In its meeting on Saturday, the GST Council approved the decriminalisation of certain offenses and clarified the tax provisions on a number of items, including sport utility vehicles. However, the Council ran out of time and about half its agenda, including setting up a GST Appellate Tribunal, was left undiscussed. So, what were the key decisions taken at the meeting and what's going to be their impact? This podcast brings you the answers. 

In its meeting on Saturday, the GST Council approved the decriminalisation of certain offenses and clarified the tax provisions on a number of items, including sport utility vehicles. However, the Council ran out of time and about half its agenda, including setting up a GST Appellate Tribunal, was left undiscussed. So, what were the key decisions taken at the meeting and what's going to be their impact?  No tax increase on any item was announced at GST Council meeting last week. That's welcome news for the masses. But the men at the helm of affairs in government are apparently unhappy with the long vacations of Indian courts. The justice and law minister of India Kiren Rijiju recently said that the vacation period of Indian courts is an inconvenience to the people. The law minister's remark on the functioning of the judiciary has opened up a debate if Indians, in general, take plenty of leaves?  Moving on to the markets, despite firm revenue growth in Q1, Dublin-based Accenture Plc left analysts unimpressed as it pegged the next quarter's revenue growth below projections. The company also sounded cautious about client spending. So does this signal more trouble for Indian IT companies ahead?  The government recently cleared the ‘environmental release' of a genetically modified variety of mustard. The move has triggered a debate around it. It has been challenged in the Supreme Court too. Environmental activists and several groups representing farmers are bent against GM crops. But exactly are they? And why is so much debate going around them? Listen to this episode of the podcast to know it all. 

NEW AMENDMENTS IN 48TH GST COUNCIL MEETING

The 48th GST Council is meeting on December 17 in a virtual format. The Council is meeting after more than 5 months. The last meeting was held in Chandigarh in June. The three main proposals that are likely to be discussed in the meeting include- decriminalization of GST offences, setting up of the GST Appellate Tribunal and discussion of the report by the Group of Ministers related to online gaming, casinos and horseracing. In this podcast, we decode these three proposals in detail. Shishir Sinha explains. Listen in. Tune in to BL Podcast for more such stories. ------ businessline Podcast is a daily series of podcasts from The Hindu businessline newspaper. In this series, we take a look at news that matter from around the world and stories to provide quick, critical analysis. Our reporters, analysts and experts provide context to help you understand what happened, why is it important and how it impacts you. Listen in as we decode a wide range of topics from politics, policy, Indian economy and the world of business --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/business-line/message

The 47th GST Council meeting was conducted on June 28 and 29. According to Rule 6 of the Procedure and Conduct of Business Regulations of the Goods and Services Tax, the council should meet “at least once in every quarter financial year.” Per the rule, the council should have met by September 30. However, as of now, the meeting didn't take place. In the last GST Council meeting, it was said that the upcoming meeting would be conducted in August. Why is there a delay in executing the GST meeting? Will the delay have an impact on the reform measures under GST? Listen in. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/business-line/message

फडणवीस जल्द पेश करेंगे नई सरकार का दावा, शिवसेना बचाने में जुटे उद्धव'यह तो झांकी है, मुंबई महापालिका अभी बाकी है'; उद्धव के इस्तीफे पर भाजपा का तंजअग्निपथ योजना के खिलाफ प्रस्ताव लाने की तैयारी में पंजाब, अन्य राज्यों से भी की अपीलसीएम गहलोत की सर्वदलीय बैठक: पीड़ित परिवार को 50 लाख का मुआवजा, भड़काऊ या उग्र भाषण न देने की अपील कीजीएसटी काउंसिल की बैठक में बड़े पैमाने पर दरों में हुआ बदलाव, जीएसटीआर - 4 पर लेट फीस से राहतGST Council Meeting: ब्रांडेड पनीर, दही होगा महंगा, बैंक की इस सर्व‍िस पर 18% Tax

FULL UPDATE OF 47TH GST COUNCIL MEETING

47th GST COUNCIL MEETING HIGHLIGHTS

Recently the Supreme Court held that the Goods and Services Tax Council's suggestions are mere recommendations and have only persuasive value. In this episode, Pranay Kotasthane and Sarthak Pradhan discuss the implications of the judgment. How will it impact the relationship between the union and the states? What will be its implications on the GST structure? Follow Pranay on Twitter: https://twitter.com/pranaykotasFollow Sarthak on Twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/PSarthak19 Check out Takshashila's courses: https://school.takshashila.org.in/You can listen to this show and other incredible shows on the new and improved IVM Podcast App on Android: https://ivm.today/android or iOS: https://ivm.today/iosYou can check out our website at https://www.ivmpodcasts.com

This podcast traces the history behind the introduction of the proviso to Section 50(1) with a specific focus on the jurisprudence that has developed, the GST Council decisions, and the implication of the recent ruling of the Hon'ble Madras High Court in Srinivasa Stampings.Audio Source: An article published on the LKS website in May 2022 https://www.lakshmisri.com/insights/articles/interest-on-delayed-payment-of-tax-the-saga-continues/#Authors: Sahana Rajkumar, , Principal Associate (LKS), and Balaji Sai Krishnan, Sr. Associate (LKS)Voice: Sahana Rajkumar, , Principal Associate (LKS)www.lakshmisri.com

Global Policy Watch #1: The Man Who Broke Capitalism?Global policy issues relevant for India- RSJOver the last couple of years, I have run through a list of books in what I call the ‘crisis in liberalism’ genre. There is a template that most of these books follow – begin with the fall of the Berlin wall, remind readers about Fukuyama’s ‘The End of History’ paper, run through the mistakes that a triumphal liberal order made through the next two decades, talk about capitalism running amok leading to the global financial crisis and then build a grand theory for the populist backlash we saw in the last few years.I wrote about these books on these pages. The list is long – The Globalisation Paradox, Radical Uncertainty, Radical Markets, The Light That Failed, The Code of Capital and maybe you could add the various Piketty books in here too. There’s a cottage industry that’s built up here and you can say I’m a huge patron of their artisanal products. Well, the good news is there’s a new addition to this genre this week. “The Man Who Broke Capitalism: How Jack Welch Gutted the Heartland and Crushed the Soul of Corporate America--And How to Undo His Legacy” by David Gelles. The title is a mouthful, but it is also convenient. It says everything it has to say in its unwieldy length. There’s not a lot more in the book except trying to retrofit all kinds of ills of capitalism seen today by the author back to Jack Welch. Gelles is all over the media this week (here, here) talking up the book and making the same points over and over again. And it got me thinking on two counts. One, why business management research and literature is almost always garbage? And two, why do we get public policy on managing business and capital wrong so often?On the book itself, I will try and summarise (in deliberate broad strokes) the three key arguments Gelles makes:There was some kind of a ‘golden age of capitalism’ in the thirty years after WW2. Companies took care of their people, distributed wealth equally, happily paid the taxes and employed people for life. Businesses saw themselves as more than profit maximising engines. There was a feeling of loyalty to the country, a fraternal sense of belonging to a community and a wider obligation to the supporting the government. All quite nice.Then in the early 70s, Friedman wrote that shareholder value maximisation paper (“The Social Responsibility Of Business Is to Increase Its Profits”) and the world was never the same again. Businesses focused more on their profits and soon lobbied for lower taxes and greater freedom in conducting their affairs. Reagan and the conservative revolution of small government followed. Into this mix came in Jack Welch as the CEO of GE, the iconic American institution. Welch singlehandedly destroyed capitalism as we knew it. He laid off people, shut factories, offshored jobs, built a shadow bank called GE Capital that reaped the benefits of financialisation, obsessed over meeting quarterly EPS numbers, stack ranked the employees in a bell curve, created the cult of CEO worship and initiated everything that you find wrong today in business. Quite an extraordinary feat in doing bad things at work. In Gelles’ words: “He's on the Mount Rushmore of men who screwed up this country.” The book then goes onto show how Welch’s long shadow still haunts corporate America despite obvious evidence that he got it all wrong. GE is among the worst-performing stock in the last two decades. It announced last year it plans to split itself into three different businesses to unlock shareholder value. GE Capital, the engine that Welch built, is defunct. Yet, business leaders worship at the altar of quarterly earnings, force ranking employees, financial engineering, building personal brands and negotiating ever increase compensation packages for themselves.  So, what’s the solution? I’m not sure if I understood it from the book. Gelles isn’t advocating for socialism surely. But he does throw around words like stakeholder capitalism and praises the current CEO of Unilever and the founder of WEF that holds an annual event at Davos for their efforts to build compassionate capitalism. Some kind of a future where we don’t measure companies on shareholder value but another set of metrics involving all stakeholders that rein in the single-minded pursuit of profits is his solution. All quite fuzzy because he seems to run out of steam by the end of the book. All that Welch bashing is tiring.Let me digress a bit here.When I started my career, the ‘GE way’ was a rage in corporate India. I remember picking up a pirated version of Welch’s autobiography from a streetside vendor at Kala Ghoda. Everyone I knew was reading it. Except for the parts about his growing up that were written with some honesty, the book was terrible. All the stories followed the same pattern. Welch gets a call and goes down to a factory floor or to a customer site. There he hears or notices something small that gets him thinking. Then he finds someone young who reminds him of his younger self – direct, analytical and abrasive. Welch decides either on shutting down or buying a new business based on his gut. He gives this young man (almost always a man) the mandate to do it. Young man does the magic and Welch basks in his foresightedness.Interspersed between these familiar stories, I got Welch’s views on lifelong employability (not employment), how to be tough but fair, his views on the future of business and, of course, six sigma.Ah, Six Sigma.You couldn’t ignore Six Sigma in India during those days. Welch had elevated it into some kind of a religion at GE. Everyone had to follow it. There were weekly Yellow belt and Green belt training programmes in every company where employees would be taught some basic statistics, and something called the DMAIC model. If you did well, you would then go on to a rigorous Black belt certification programme. The ultimate big daddy of them all was the Master Black belt - a Shaolin master with scores of Black belts in his stable who could be unleashed on any problem. All Master Black Belts came from GE and for them, the answer to every single problem was a Six Sigma project. Complaints about canteen food in the office? Run a Six Sigma project. Spending too much on office stationery? Why, Six Sigma can help. People quitting because the work is drudgery? No problem, Six Sigma will solve it. I even remember a training programme where a Six Sigma expert told us he could solve the Israel-Palestine problem using Six Sigma if only they invited him. To me the whole thing, as it was run in India, was a charade. There was no new idea or insight that came out following it. It was just bureaucracy with some babus lording over us because they were certified in this nonsense. Japan was always shown as a shining example of the success of such techniques. I guess no one had heard about Japan’s lost decade.Anyway, reading the book and seeing the success GE had then under Welch, I was convinced of two things. One, he foresaw the two trends of globalisation and financialisation way earlier than others. He figured both the threats and opportunities they presented and moulded GE to take advantage of them. He did this better than anyone else who was running a large business then. Two, he realised that running a diversified, globally distributed enterprise requires a certain ‘way’. So, he codified it - bell curve for ranking employees, global training centres for creating a kind of manager, Six Sigma as the common language to solve everyday problems and a common scorecard to rate business performance. In his scheme of things, process and order were more important than individual enterprise and innovation. GE probably didn’t produce a single world-beating product during his time but they did make truckloads of money for shareholders by being more efficient and faster to market than their competitors. And that didn’t happen by just mindless shutting down of plants or fudging the books as Gelles seems to allege.    Coming back to the book, I have three problems with it.First, there’s no pause to consider the counterfactual turn of events. Had Welch not done what he did at GE, what would have been the alternative history? It was clear by the early 80s that cheaper, and often better, consumer durables and industrial products were coming into America from Japan and the Tiger economies of the far east. American labour was getting more expensive, especially the retirement funds of workers that were run often on a defined benefit programme. Remember the great American motor companies had to be bailed out after the GFC in 2009 because they couldn’t fund the pension benefits of their ex-employees anymore. Welch was realistic enough to understand there wasn’t going to be any breakthrough technology that could change the businesses that were cash cows of GE. A refrigerator is a refrigerator. They had become commodities. Welch took a hard look at it and asked why couldn’t GE take the battle to the challengers? Why couldn’t GE outdo them in being more efficient, using the same sources of labour as them and getting into newer businesses? The breakup of the USSR and the opening up of economies around the world helped him to go overseas. So did the steep fall in telecom rates that powered the BPO revolution. He also figured he could use the large cash flows his core businesses generate to build a financial institution. And he created a behemoth in GE Capital.These two decisions extended the lifespan of GE and, perhaps, saved a lot of jobs. GE might be thinking of splitting itself into three today but these are still reasonably profitable businesses employing thousands of workers. The graveyard of corporate America is packed with companies who once competed with GE in sectors as varied as electricals (Westinghouse, Whirlpool), packaging and plastics (Tyco), and household goods (Xerox, Kodak)…the list is long. They died because they didn’t do what GE did then. You can accuse Welch of being just a manager who got a couple of trends right and rode them but who didn’t innovate and build genre-defining products. That’s fine. Not being a gifted innovator isn’t really a moral failure. But Welch ran a management template that worked for its time. A lot that was good in that has helped other enterprises manage scale and complexity. He overdid things for sure and that toxic legacy of being obsessed over quarterly EPS targets, financial re-engineering to meet them and treating people as expenses is uniquely his too. But, on balance, he was responding to the incentives that he and GE had during that time.The problem with a lot of business management books is that they use the hindsight of success or failure to go back and find reasons for it. This is a useful exercise in history. And it should be only read as history. As one version or interpretation of events. The trouble is many of these books start peddling these as some kind of deeply researched scientific material. It is not science because every single one of them will fail the falsification principle of Popper to demarcate science from non-science. Pick any book that teaches the Toyota way or the Netflix method of managing people and apply them in another context. The success rate of any such application, however generously you may use the term, is still quite low. In fact, the moment I see a book written on the unique way a company does something, I realise the company has jumped the shark. Gelles’ argument about Welch being the one man responsible for breaking capitalism is as flawed as the many books urging companies to follow the GE way a couple of decades back. There’s no science or verifiable truth here.Second, the book has an America centric view of how Welch made things worse. Sure, Welch shut down plants and shipped jobs offshore. And you could argue that made lives of American workers worse. But that trend was already inevitable. I don’t know about you but I don’t think the pre-Welch era, say of the 70s, was some kind of golden age for capitalism. People were still protesting against inequality, wars and seeking global brotherhood. Inflation was high. Diversity in corporates was low. Politicians were being voted out of power because of how they fared on economy. Doesn’t sound like a golden age to me.Gelles blames Welch for hollowing out the industrial belt and increasing inequality in the American society. Maybe it is true. But what about the countries where Welch set up new shops? Without Welch, there wouldn’t have been millions of jobs created in places like India, China, the Philippines and Eastern Europe. In the mid-90s, GE was the biggest customer of the then-fledgling Indian IT companies. The likes of TCS, Wipro and Infosys scaled on back of GE business that at various times accounted for about a third of their revenues. By the late 90s, GE began the BPO boom in India and other companies followed. Almost every company would visit the GECIS centre in Gurgaon to see what’s possible to outsource in India. You could claim with some confidence that he created the most jobs in the history of independent India. I witnessed this first hand. An entire generation made a good living and gained global experience because of the platform GE created in India. There is a good argument then that he might have actually reduced global inequality because of his actions. GE was a global enterprise. Why should only American workers and equality in American society matter in judging his legacy?Lastly, it is easy to diss Friedman and his famous paper on maximising shareholder value without understanding him fully. Friedman didn’t advocate some kind of cut-throat capitalism where nothing else except profits mattered. He was a better thinker than that. I wrote about this a couple of years ago on the 50th anniversary of that Friedman paper and Raghuram Rajan’s assessment of it:Over the years it has been attacked and its central message discredited in the light of the global financial crisis. Even businesses are reluctant these days to invoke shareholder value maximisation as their goal. There have been calls for societal value maximisation, stakeholder wealth creation and conscious capitalism to replace the Friedman doctrine. All good intentions aside, nothing has truly replaced it in how businesses operate. What explains its enduring appeal? Three reasons:A simple and measurable metric: The shareholder value maximisation goal is easy to set and monitor. It helps that there is a common understanding of the metric. The alternatives are amorphous. It is difficult to understand what does maximising societal value entail, for instance. Who will define what society wants? Are societal objectives of India and the US similar?Rewarding the risk-takers: The shareholders invest risk capital in an enterprise. This willingness to take risks is what leads entrepreneurs to build new products, satisfy the consumers and create new jobs. The shareholders deserve the pursuit of maximum return by the firms for this risk they undertake. It is up to them what they do with these returns. They can invest it in newer enterprises or use it to improve the society as they deem fit. The management or anyone else should have no claim on how to invest the returns that belong to the shareholders.Shareholders are the residual claimants: Everyone who contributes to the value creation of an enterprise – the employees, the management and the customers – get their fixed claim on the value through compensation for their efforts, stock options and the value derived from the products or services offered by the enterprise. Only when these fixed claimants are served well, the value for the residual claimant (the shareholder) is maximised. So, the pursuit of shareholder value will by itself serve the other stakeholders well.Any kind of over-indexing on input metrics (like environment or society) instead of a residual metric like shareholder value runs the risk of the measure becoming a target and ceasing to be a good measure (Goodhart’s Law). The recent events around ESG investing and greenwashing are examples of this. See the Deutsche Bank story on this. More will follow.And to quote Friedman from his original article:“But the doctrine of “social responsibility” taken seriously would extend the scope of the political mechanism to every human activity. It does not differ in philosophy from the most explicitly collectivist doctrine. It differs only by professing to believe that collectivist ends can be attained without collectivist means. That is why, in my book “Capitalism and Freedom,” I have called it a “fundamentally subversive doctrine” in a free society, and have said that in such a society, there is one and only one social responsibility of business—to use its resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits so long as it stays within the rules of the game, which is to say, engages in open and free competition without deception fraud.”   There is always a desire to ‘manage’ the economic system in a way that it allocates resources and rewards most efficiently. As we have seen over a few centuries now, this is a noble but flawed pursuit. It generates worse outcomes than a system that builds itself on fundamentals of human enterprise, behaviour and its response to incentives. There are many economic concepts that sound evil or counter-intuitive: efficient market mechanism, free trade, comparative advantage or Ricardian equivalence. But they work. There are reasons for market failures and there are extended periods of time when these failures are allowed to persist. But the beauty of spontaneous order is that the correction to its excesses is also built in. The correction is the time to learn from past mistakes and improve it. Not to call for discarding the system itself in favour of some kind of ‘planned design’. Welch was a remarkable manager – both a product of his times and someone who shaped his time. He pushed the boundaries in ways good and bad. That which was bad is already interred with his bones. The good must survive. India Policy Watch: Missing Pieces in the Jigsaw PuzzleInsights on burning policy issues in India— Pranay KotasthaneA popular way to think about strengthening the Indian Republic is to ponder on improving its institutions. However, this route often ends up in mere despondence over our many underperforming institutions. While confronting these demons is an absolute necessity, here’s another way to think about this issue: what are the meta-institutions that the Indian Republic is missing altogether?We aren’t talking here about institutions that don’t work, but institutions that don’t exist at all. And I’m not talking about the likes of a new sectoral regulator for cryptocurrencies, but about more important institutions, ones that could improve decision-making in governments across spheres.I don’t have a comprehensive list yet. However, there are at least three that I’ve heard many experts talk about.1. Parliament’s own think tankOf all the roles parliamentarians end up donning, our current structure equips them the least for the very function they exist: making well-designed laws in their constituents' interests. India’s MPs are not assigned any research budget or research personnel. Combine this congenital defect with the curse of the anti-defection law, and you get a structure that’s subservient to political party interests. Of course, some MPs do stand out despite these constraints, but it does appear that the odds are heavily stacked against them.Thankfully, a solution has emerged from civil society to fill this gaping hole: PRS Legislative Research — a 17-year old non-profit organisation that aims to provide independent and non-partisan research to the parliamentarians.However, just one such institution is not sufficient for an India-scale entity. What we need, in addition, is another much bigger research think tank of the Parliament, that’s paid from the Consolidated Fund of India and has researchers who develop deep expertise in specific areas over the years. Consider, for instance, the Congressional Research Service in the US. This federally-funded agency has over 600 employees who are specialists in a variety of policy domains.As the size of the Parliament increases after delimitation, and as policy issues keep getting more specialised, it’s imperative for India to invest in this missing institution.2. An independent fiscal councilThis institutional gap has been highlighted by the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Finance Commissions. While India has an institution (the Comptroller and Accountant General) to audit policies that are already in action, there is no institution that makes an independent financial evaluation of government policies before they receive the final approval.The result is that tall promises of handouts in electoral manifestos of parties often become government policies swiftly, without any regard to the fiscal sustainability or opportunity cost assessments. A recent example is the One Rank One Pension (OROP) scheme which was implemented in 2015 after appearing in the 2014 election manifestos of both the major national parties.An independent fiscal council then is an institution that is supposed to do three things. One, evaluate the quality of budget forecasts given how there is a wide gap between budgeted estimates and actual expenditures. Two, develop cost estimates of budgetary proposals ex-ante. Ang three, monitor if fiscal rules are being adhered to.Dr Govinda Rao writes in The Hindu that the global experience with such institutions has been largely positive:A study by the IMF (“The Functions and Impact of Fiscal Councils”, July 2013), documents that the existence of IFIs is associated with stronger primary balances; countries with IFIs tend to have more accurate macroeconomic and budgetary forecasts; IFIs are likely to raise public awareness and raise the level of public debate on fiscal policy. Case studies in Belgium, Chile and the United Kingdom show that IFIs have significantly contributed to improved fiscal performances.In Belgium, the government is legally required to adopt the macroeconomic forecasts of the Federal Planning Bureau and this has significantly helped to reduce bias in these estimates. In Chile, the existence of two independent bodies on Trend GDP and Reference Copper Price has greatly helped to improve Budget forecasts. In the U.K., the Office for Budget Responsibility has been important in restoring fiscal sustainability. Cross-country evidence shows that fiscal councils exert a strong influence on fiscal performances, particularly when they have formal guarantees of independence.Clearly a meta-institution we are missing.3. An institution for vertical and horizontal bargainingThis idea again comes from Dr Govinda Rao. He writes in his recent book Studies of Indian Public Finance that India lacks an institution that can act as a credible umpire between various states, and between the states as a whole on one side and the union government on the other. The National Development Council created for this purpose is defunct, the Inter-State Council is a part of the union government, the Rajya Sabha is no longer the council of states in reality, and finance commissions are dissolved after making their recommendations. The result is that there is no institution that can truly champion cooperative federalism. The GST Council perhaps performs acts as a bargaining and negotiation platform in the limited area of indirect taxation. To manage India’s heterogeneity, a meta-institution that is dedicated to horizontal and vertical balance is imperative.Another big lesson here is that the view that India’s government is oversized is inaccurate. The Indian State is quite anaemic when it comes to staffing for its core functions. We need more institutions, not fewer.What are some more missing meta-institutions in the Indian Republic? Leave a comment.India Policy Watch: The Paradiplomacy OpportunityInsights on burning policy issues in India— Pranay KotasthaneNote these two developments over the last few weeks: Tamil Nadu was first off the blocks to send a relief consignment to the crisis-stricken Sri Lanka. And as many as three Chief Ministers—besides the sons of two other CMs—made their presence felt at the World Economic Forum in Davos.Moreover, chief ministerial visits to business capitals of the world are now commonplace. Virtually every Indian state now has its own global investor summit. And yes, two states (Punjab and Kerala) already have departments for non-resident Indians.Put all these developments together and it becomes clear that Indian states are also geopolitical and geoeconomic entities. In the past, I’ve written how Australia gets around its low diplomatic corps strength by allowing its states to have their own trade and investment offices in other countries. India too should take this path, and encourage state governments to have permanent trade and investment desks in important business centres of the world.This view is not a popular one. The policy orthodoxy believes that since foreign affairs is under the Union List of the Seventh Schedule in the constitution, states have no role to play. Besides, state governments having their own foreign policy is at odds with the popular “one nation, one X” idea.But in my view, economic diplomacy by Indian states can be beneficial to all relevant stakeholders. It is in the states’ interest because they understand their comparative advantages, needs and challenges far better than the union government. Thus, they can choose to invest in external economic relations that are suited to their conditions.Economic paradiplomacy can also benefit the investors as they get to directly engage with the entity that controls crucial variables for running businesses, such as land, labour, electricity, and law and order.And finally, this strategy can benefit the union government as well. It frees up the already strained capacity of the external affairs and commerce ministries for broader issues. The role of states in the India-Israel relationship demonstrates that there is also a political utility:“Full diplomatic ties were established between India and Israel in 1992. Even after this move, collaboration with Israel was seen as a hot potato issue in India. The domestic implications of taking sides in what was essentially a religious conflict was a significant impediment to the ties taking off. A few Members of Parliament criticised this step on humanitarian grounds, arguing that New Delhi should have waited until an independent Palestinian state came into being. Some members of the ruling Indian National Congress feared that this step would be detrimental to their electoral appeal to the Indian Muslim community. The Babri Masjid riots further thickened the plot and the Indian government slowed down the pace of the partnership.It was under these circumstances that the Indian states were allowed to expand Indian collaboration with Israel. Traditionally, Indian states were kept out of India’s foreign policy debates. Even the Constitution assigned all matters of legislation related to foreign policy exclusively to the Union government. Consequently, the proliferation of collaboration between Indian states with Israel was a bold and unique experiment by the PV Narasimha Rao government. While this allowed relations to prosper, it also avoided the politico-religious undertones that would have been hard to suppress had this engagement been anchored by the Union government alone.”And so, economic diplomacy by the states is a win-win-win. For an India with global interests, its states have to come to the party. Should they be invited?HomeWorkReading and listening recommendations on public policy matters[Book] Dr Govinda Rao’s Studies in Indian Public Finance is a must-read for policy enthusiasts. I really hope OUP prices it such that the common Public can Finance the book purchase. Nevertheless, the book links to some classics in public finance. Here’s the compilation: Public Principles of Public Debt by James Buchanan, Public Finance and Public Choice: Two Contrasting Visions of the State by James Buchanan and Richard Musgrave, The Logic of Collective Action: Public Goods and the Theory of Groups by Mancur Olson, Public Finance in Theory and Practice by Richard and Peggy Musgrave, The Power to Tax: Analytic Foundations of a Fiscal Constitution by Brennan and Buchanan, The Calculus of Consent by James Buchanan, The Road to Serfdom by Hayek, and Democracy, Dictatorship, and Development by Mancur Olson.[Prediction Market] We’ve written previously about the utility of prediction markets in foreign policy. Check out this US-government project that is explicitly meant to ‘build a collective foresight capability that can provide U.S. Government policymakers with an accurate and nuanced rendering of the future’.[Report] Putting the Periphery at the Center by Happymon Jacob makes some excellent recommendations on Indian Paradiplomacy. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit publicpolicy.substack.com

In a ruling that will have major implications on the GST framework and Centre-State financial relations, the Supreme Court of India on Thursday said the recommendations of the council are not binding on the Centre and State governments.   The observation followed a judgement over the applicability of Goods and Services Tax under the Reverse Charge Mechanism on transportation of imported goods through the sea route.   The apex court dismissed an appeal by the Centre against an earlier Gujarat High Court judgement that said that Integrated GST on ocean freight is unconstitutional. The Supreme Court held that GST Council's recommendations will only have a persuasive value, adding that the Parliament and state legislatures possess equal powers to legislate on GST. Abhishek A Rastogi, a partner at Khaitan & Co, who argued on behalf of importers, said there will be a pragmatic approach to the provisions which are subject to judicial review by way of challenge to the constitutionality of such provisions based on GST Council recommendations.   The decisions in the GST Council are taken by a majority of not less than three-fourths of the weighted votes cast. The Centre has one-third weightage of the total votes cast and all the states taken together have two-thirds of the weightage.   In the last five years of GST, the Council has taken all decisions on the basis of consensus, with the exception of the levy on lotteries, in which voting took place in December 2019.   Abhishek A Rastogi, Partner, Khaitan & Co says GST Council's recommendations are unconstitutional can't be implemented. Process of voting in the GST Council remains intact. States having different GST rates will defeat the objective of GST and the states will have to debate if they want to deviate from the harmonised system.  The Finance Minister of Tamil Nadu Palanivel Thiaga Rajan welcomed the court's observation, saying it clarifies issues that he had raised last year. He had said the GST system and the Council function with an all-encompassing mandate not envisioned in the Constitution of India. He said the vesting of enormous de-facto power in bodies not directly connected with the GST Council, such as the Tax Research Unit of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs, GST Secretariat and the GST Network, is fraught with questions of constitutional legitimacy.   What would the Supreme Court's remarks mean for Centre-State relations going forward?   Speaking to Business Standard, Jatin Arora, Partner, Phoenix Legal, says this will lead to interpretational issues with regard to states' powers. Tamil Nadu govt says most of the powers related to levy of taxes rest with the Centre. It says agenda set by the Centre is followed typically in GST Council. The SC ruling gives more teeth to states to raise their concerns. Arora says it will be worrisome if states legislate on GST matters outside of the GST Council. Centre will have to be more accommodative of states' issues.    Another legal expert says that yesterday's ruling does not change the way in which the GST Council functions.   According to Rajat Bose, Partner, Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co, there is no change in provisions related to GST Council. The GST Council can deliberate on differences of opinion between states and centre and it is empowered to decide on those differences.  Meanwhile, Revenue Secretary Tarun Bajaj said the ruling is unlikely to materially impact the one-nation-one-tax regime as it is only a reiteration of the existing law that gives States the right to accept or reject the council's recommendations -- a power that  The official further said that states never went back and framed legislations that were not in line with the panel's recommendations even when they differed on tax rates on a particular good or service in the Council. To sum up, the SC ruling affirms that GST Council is merely a recommendatory body and its suggestions must pass the

The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that GST on ocean freight paid in case of import of goods is unconstitutional. And while upholding the Gujarat high court order on sea freight, the apex court also said that recommendations of the GST Council are not binding. And both the states and the Centre have the power to legislate on GST matters. So what does this mean for the GST framework? And how will it affect the Centre's relationship with states, especially those being ruled by opposition parties.  From the corridors of Supreme Court, let us see what all is happening in the alleyways of Gujarat's Surat -- where over 90% of the world's diamonds are given the right shape and the sparkle. They have become quieter since Russia started bombing Ukraine. The supply of rough stones has almost come to a halt after US sanctions on Alrosa -- the biggest diamond miner in Russia. Leaving diamond cutting and polishing units high and dry.  The mood on Dalal Street was also as sombre as in Surat. A sharp selloff hit domestic equity markets yesterday as concerns over high inflation, coupled with heavy foreign outflows, butchered bulls. Going forward, analysts believe that the markets will continue to remain on the edge over fears of recession in the US, and prospects of aggressive monetary tightening by global central banks. Listen to an analysis on what dented investors' sentiment and what lies ahead From the unpredictable Dalal Street, let us now move on to the policy corridors of Delhi. India on Thursday slammed a resolution passed by Pakistan's Parliament on the delimitation exercise in Jammu and Kashmir. The move has met with some resistance inside Kashmir too. Listen to this podcast to know more about delimitation. And also why it has come under criticism in the Valley. Watch video

On May 19, The Supreme Court held that the recommendations of the GST Council are not binding on the Union and States. What does this mean for the Opposition ruled states and the concept of “one nation, one tax”. Kerala Finance Minister KN Balagopal shares his thoughts. Listen in! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/business-line/message

Just as public trust in electric vehicles was taking a hit amid a spate of fire incidents involving e-scooters, government think-tank NITI Aayog came out with the much-awaited draft policy on battery swapping last week. Targeted at electric two and three-wheelers, the policy aims to drive large-scale adoption of EVs by promoting the use of the nascent but rapidly growing battery swapping technology and encouraging collaboration among the stakeholders. Battery swapping falls under the broader umbrella of Battery-as-a-Service (BaaS) business model where users purchase an EV without the battery, which significantly lowers upfront costs. They pay a regular subscription fee to service providers for battery services throughout the vehicle's lifetime. To bring battery swapping into the mainstream, the draft policy promotes open architecture and aims to create a framework for greater interoperability between EVs and batteries. The batteries will have to be compatible with different EV models and with different battery-charging stations.  NITI Aayog also said the policy will not mandate a rigid set of technical and operational requirements to foster interoperability, leaving room for innovation. When it comes to safety, a rigorous testing protocol has been proposed to avoid any unwanted temperature rise at the electrical interface.  Batteries are required to be enabled with Battery Management System or BMS, for efficient battery monitoring, data analysis, and safety. The BMS must be self-certified and open for testing to check its compatibility with various systems, and capability to meet safety requirements.    Swappable batteries will have to be equipped with advanced features like IoT-based battery monitoring systems, remote monitoring and immobilisation capabilities. Apart from asking the GST Council to consider reducing the tax on lithium-ion batteries to 5%, NITI Aayog suggested that incentives for vehicles with fixed batteries be extended to swappable-battery vehicles. Pulkit Khurana, the Co-founder of Battery Smart, which operates a network of over 200 swap stations in 10 cities, says that NITI Aayog has incorporated most of the feedback raised by his startup as well as other companies during stakeholder discussions with the government last month.  The draft policy goes above and beyond industry demands and encourages multiple interoperable ecosystems to come up, says Khurana. Specifications for batteries and chargers will help in safety, he says.  The policy provides clarity for EV buyers on who to approach for grievance redressal. The Battery Providers are designated as the Point of Contact and will be responsible, in coordination with other ecosystem players, for handling any type of complaint. Draft says that they will also be responsible for channelling monetary compensation to the EV owners, if necessary. Depending on the particulars of the case, a battery provider may recover these costs from other ecosystem players too, for instance, the vehicle manufacturer. Arun Sreyas, co-founder of RACEnergy which manufactures swap stations and swappable batteries, questioned the policy push towards interoperability. He said there could be practical challenges in implementing that and could pose a safety risk. While the industry seems split on the issue of interoperability, the draft policy by and large promises leeway for innovation. By touching upon the aspects of incentives, GST, safety, interoperability and accountability, the comprehensive set of policy recommendations can establish the battery-as-a-service model as an alternative to the fixed battery and traditional internal combustion engine vehicles.   Watch video

Q1: Most MSMEs did not get time to stabilize after GST, demonetisation. Since the pandemic came right after those two big events, what should this Budget do for the revival of MSMEs? Ans: Emergency Credit Guarantee Scheme should be extended for six months more Budget should empower credit managers of banks with the discretion of relaxing the credit norms for MSMEs for three to six months Ombudsman-like helpline for MSMEs get redressed when bank managers are not willing to grant credit Set aside a fund to pay the dues to the operational creditors of MSMEs brought under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code between FY21-22 to FY22-23, by the government     Q2: Coming to consumer spending, the recovery was not broad based. What can the Budget do to boost demand, increase cash in hands of people? Ans: Govt can hike allocation in NREGA Direct cash transfer to households at the bottom of the income pyramid Tax sops for people below income of Rs 10 lakh per year   Govt could provide for special GST compensation which can be conditional on rationalisation of some GST rates by the GST Council     Q3: This year particularly the tax revenues have been very buoyant, although disinvestment receipts somewhat discouraging. So, do you think the Finance Minister has enough fiscal headroom to be able to enhance capex spending and give demand boost to the bottom of the pyramid?  Ans:   Revenue receipts of the govt are likely to exceed Budget estimates by almost Rs 6.4 trillion Total revenue, after adjusting the disinvestment shortfall, is likely to exceed the Budget estimate by around Rs 5 trillion in this fiscal FM should use the excess revenue to clean up the balance sheet of the govt in the last quarter and infuse additional capital to the public sector banks Fiscal deficit for FY23 could be pegged at around 6.2% of the GDP and revenues are realised, it will give the govt additional spending headroom of about Rs 7.6 trillion during the period Watch video

Top headlines   ·        Sensex gains 460 points to end record-breaking year with a bang; up 22% in 2021 ·        Indigo Paints zooms 16% after brokerage firm Motilal Oswal gives Buy rating ·        SmallCap Responsive Industries zooms 65% in 3 days on FY22 half-yearly turnaround ·        CMS Info Systems rallies smartly after a listless listing ·        GST Council defers rate hike in textiles, refers issues to group of ministers   The key benchmark indices ended the record-breaking year 2021 on a higher note. The BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty displayed a firm trend throughout the day on the back of steady gains in auto, financials, FMCG and index heavyweight Reliance Industries.   The Sensex touched a high of 58,409 before ending the day with a gain of 460 points at 58,254. In total, the total gain for the index this week was 1,130 points.   The Sensex finished the calendar year with a solid gain of 22%. It touched a new life-time high of 62,245 on October 19, 2021. The NSE Nifty today settled 150 points higher at 17,354, and was up a whopping 24% through 2021.   Titan was the top gainer among the Sensex 30 stocks. It ended 3.5% higher at Rs 2,522. UltraTech Cement and Kotak Bank were up around 2.5% each. Maruti, Axis Bank, SBI, Bajaj Finserv, HDFC Bank, Nestle and Sun Pharma were the other major gainers.   Among losers for the day, IT stocks underperformed on selective profit-taking and NTPC slipped 2%.   The broader markets outperformed the benchmark indices. The BSE Midcap and Smallcap were up 1.4% and 1.2%, respectively.   Textile stocks ended with strong gains after the GST Council decided to defer implementation of the GST rate increase. TT Ginni Filaments and Super Spinning were the major gainers, up 10-11% each. Salona Cotspin, SPL Industries, GTN Textiles, Digjam and Bombay Dyeing were among the other major gainers, All of them rose about 5% each.   Among sectors, the BSE Metal and Consumer Durables indices were up over 2% each. The auto and telecom indices gained 1.7% each. The Bankex, FMCG, Oil & Gas and Realty indices also finished with gains of over 1% each.   Among individual stocks, Indigo Paints was in the spotlight. The stock rallied nearly 16% on the BSE after Brokerage firm Motilal Oswal initiated a coverage on the stock with a 'Buy' rating and a target of Rs 2,270. The brokerage said the company had successfully surpassed the high entry barriers of the Indian paints industry.   Further, CMS Info Systems had a muted debut, with the stock getting listed at Rs 218.50 on the BSE - a 1.2% premium to its issue price of Rs 216 per share. The stock, however, rallied in the latter half of the trading day and ended 10% higher than its issue price.   Lastly, among small caps, another paints and furniture company Responsive Industries rallied over 19% on the BSE after the company recently announced its quarterly and half-yearly numbers for the the period until the end of September. The company reported a turnaround, with a net profit of Rs 6.60 crore, against a net loss of Rs 4.13 crore in the same period a year earlier. The stock has zoomed a whopping 68.7% in the past three trading sessions alone.

Another round of rationalisation of tax rates is on the cards. The Centre is looking to convene a meeting of the Goods and Service Tax or GST Council in early January. Besides rate rationalisation, a correction of the inverted duty structure is also expected. Inverted duty structure is when inputs for a product are taxed at a higher rate than the outgoing product itself.    At the 45th GST Council Meeting in Lucknow on September 17, the Council had set up a Group of Ministers or GoM headed by Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai to look at the possibility for rate rationalisation and correction of the inverted duty structure.    The GoM's report is expected to be finalised before the January meeting of the GST council. We may also see more talks on merging one or two tax slabs. These recommendations were recently made by the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP), a finance ministry-backed think-tank.    The NIPFP study suggests that the government can rationalise the GST rate structure without losing revenues by rejigging the four major rates of 5%, 12%, 18% and 28% with a three-rate framework of 8%, 15% and 30%. The study estimates that if the GST rate structure prevailing at its onset in July 2017 was restored last year, additional GST revenues of nearly ₹1.25 lakh crore could have accrued in 2020-21.   In fact, at the last GST Council meeting in September, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had pointed out that multiple rate changes since the onset of GST in 2017 had lowered the revenue-neutral rate from the original 15.5% to 11.6%.  We can, therefore, expect an increase in the GST rates or a merger of slabs so that the average GST rate would inch closer to the revenue neutral rate. With the GST regime completing 4.5 years, it may be time to consider an overhaul of the rate structure for the long term. But the industry must be given sufficient time to incorporate any such changes. We cannot risk destabilising the GST system right when the economy is bouncing back. Watch video

This weeks' podcast discusses states' obligations to comply with GST Council recommendations.Audio Source: An article published in the Indian Business Law Journal in September 2021 https://law.asia/goods-and-services-tax-council/Authors:  Raghavan Ramabadran, Executive Partner (LKS), Rohan Muralidharan, Principal Associate (LKS), and Sahana Rajkumar, Principal Associate (LKS)Voice: Sahana Rajkumar, Principal Associate (LKS)www.lakshmisri.com

In this episode of Express Conversations, the Finance Minister of Tamil Nadu, Palanivel Thiaga Rajan joins Indian Express' P Vaidyanathan Iyer, Liz Matthew, and Anant Goenka for a chat on the GST Council, the weakening of federalism in India, Jaggi Vasudev, and a lot more.Tune in!

Vaccination milestones on PM Modi's birthday, GST Council may consider bringing petrol, diesel under GST, Virat Kohli's decision to step down T20 and other top news in the bulletin.

In this episode, find out about why World Bank has discontinued its Doing Business Report, also find out why Poonawalla Fincorp's CEO stepped down. Business Term of the Day: NARCL

Jude Weston brings you the latest news from Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow, Bengal, and the world. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The Indian indices tumbled from record-high levels to end lower as investors booked profits in PSU Bank and metal stocks. The benchmark indices had started Friday's session on a gap-up note, thus pushing Sensex to a new peak of 59,737 and 50-pack Nifty to a fresh record high of 17,792. Although soon after, the indices lost steam with the Sensex closing the volatile session at 59,016, down 125 points, or 0.21 per cent, while Nifty shut shop at 17,585, down 44 points, or 0.25 per cent. Even then, on a weekly basis, the benchmarks rose for the fourth straight week. The top Sensex gainer was Kotak Mahindra Bank which rose 5 per cent, followed by HDFC Bank that added 2 per cent. That said, the top losers were Tata Steel and SBI that lost up to 4 per cent.   The broader markets too reversed from all-time high levels to end the day in the negative territory. The BSE MidCap fell 1.14 per cent and the SmallCap 1.06 per cent, thus underperforming benchmark Sensex. The market breadth was in the favour of the sellers with an advance-decline ratio of nearly 1:2. The volatility index -- India VIX -- rose by 5.7 per cent to 15.23. Among sectoral indices, only the Nifty Bank, Private Bank, Financial Services, and Media ended in the green. The PSU Bank index tanked the most among all sectors, down 3 per cent, on account of profit-booking even though the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday announced the National Asset Reconstruction Company that would acquire bad loans in an attempt to resolve them. Metal and realty indices too lost over 2 per cent each. Among stock-specific movements, Interglobe Aviation surged 11 per cent on strong aviation data for August. The domestic air passenger traffic for the month was up 136 per cent year-on-year at 6.7 million. The stock hit a new high of Rs 2243 in intra-day deals and settled at Rs 2197. Further, the stock of eClerx rose 4 per cent on receiving the board's approval to undertake buyback of shares. The board has approved up to Rs 303 crore buyback at Rs 2,850 per share. Brightcom Group hit an upper circuit of 5 per cent at Rs 41.45 after the company said its board approved allotment of 1.50 crore convertible warrants at Rs 37.77 each on a preferential basis to Shankar Sharma. Sharma is vice chairman & joint managing director of First Global, an investment management firm. Shares of CESC erased gains to end the session just 4 per cent higher after the company's board fixed September 17, 2021, as the record date for the stock split in the ratio of 1:10. The stock had risen as much as 10 per cent to a new high of Rs 96.75 in the intra-day session. Now, going into trade next week, the markets could first and foremost react to the outcome of today's GST Council meeting. But majorly, the two-day monetary policy meeting of the US Federal Reserve will likely dictate the market trend in the coming week. Investors across the world will be eyeing the FOMC meeting for more clarity on the outlook for both tapering as well as interest rate timelines. That apart, back home, another initial public offer will hit Street next week. The Rs 171 crore IPO by Paras Defence and Space Technologies will open for subscription on Tuesday. The issue is priced in the band of Rs 165-175 per share. Furthermore, shares of Sansera Engineering will be up for listing on the bourses on Friday. The issue closed yesterday with over 11 times bids. Lastly, stock-specific news flow, pick up in vaccination drive, and foreign fund activity will also guide markets this week. According to technical analyst, Rohit Singre of LKP Securities, any break below the 17,530 zone could drag down the index more.

In your evening news brief, GST council cuts rates on Covid-19 essentials to 5%; Diesel at Rs 100 mark in Rajasthan, Karnataka sees petrol at Rs 100/litre and Priyanka Gandhi slams govt's Covid response Download the Deccan Herald app for iOS devices here: https://apple.co/30eOFD6 For latest news and updates, log on to www.deccanherald.com Check out our e-paper www.deccanheraldepaper.com

In this episode, find out why Tatas are looking at a re-entry into pharma manufacturing business, why US markets rose despite a high inflation data Business Term of the Day: Consumer Price Index

In today's episode of News Explained, we are going to go over some important advancements that took place at the GST Council. The GST Council, which met after October last year, decided to set up a Group of State Finance Ministers to look into the crucial question of granting tax relief to Covid materials, including vaccine and drugs. The Group of FMs will be formed today and it will submit its recommendation on or before June 8th and then the Council will make a decision. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/business-line/message

Google, Facebook and WhatsApp shared the details as mandated under the new guidelines, West Bengal chief secretary Alapan Bandopadhyay transferred to the department of personnel and training, GST Council to decide on waiving off taxes on Covid-19 essentials & other top news in this bulletin.

43rd GST COUNCIL MEETING DT. 28.05.2021 HIGHLIGHTS

In this episode, find out why Sun Pharma & Eicher Motors Q4 earning disappointed, why US markets rallied on Thursday Business Term of the Day: Valuation

ETV Bharat Karnataka news in kannada for May 28 2021 7am is about Karnataka govt announce incentive for frontline health workers, Five accused of Bengaluru gangrape case arrested, PM Modi to visit Odisha, Bengal to review impact of Cyclone Yaas, GST Council to discuss tax rate on Covid essentials, compensation to states and several other news, for more live news download Etv Bharat Download ETV Bharat on App store – https://apps.apple.com/in/app/etv-bharat/id1453416186 Play Store – https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.etvbharat.android Or watch us live on – www.etvbharat.com ETV Bharat is d Division of Ushodaya Enterprises Pvt. Ltd. , is a comprehensive digital national news platform conceived to deliver seamless news and information services, using video-centric Mobile App and Web Portals. It is first-of-its kind offering in India in terms of diversity and depth, dedicated journalists network, reach of 24 states with services in 13 languages i.e.– Hindi, Urdu, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Gujarati, Marathi, Bengali, Punjabi, Assamese, Odia and English. ETV Bharat is the latest initiative of the five-decade old multi-dimensional Ramoji Group. The Group's highly successful media endeavors include : Eenadu - one of the largely circulated language dailies in the country , and ETV Network with Telugu general entertainment, infotainment and news channels. With a strong lineage of the most trusted media house, ETV Bharat would draw on its strengths of decades' long experience and innovation. ETV Bharat will combine the new technologies of mobile and digital media to engage news and information seekers in a new connected world. It will be driven by well-established news gathering setup, technology specialists and other professionals.

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Establishment, vision and mission, composition of the council, wiring of the council, functions of the council

ETV Bharat Karnataka news in kannada for May 15 2021 9pm is about Karnataka reports 41,664 new COVID19 cases and 349 deaths in the last 24 hours, Cyclone Tauktae; Ministers Basavaraj Bommai, R Ashoka chaired an emergency meeting with officials of KSDMA, Mortal remains of Soumya Santosh, who was killed in rocket launches on Israel by Palestine, arrive in Kochi, 43rd GST Council meeting via video conferencing on 28th May and several other news, for more live news download Etv Bharat Download ETV Bharat on App store – https://apps.apple.com/in/app/etv-bharat/id1453416186 Play Store – https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.etvbharat.android Or watch us live on – www.etvbharat.com ETV Bharat is d Division of Ushodaya Enterprises Pvt. Ltd. , is a comprehensive digital national news platform conceived to deliver seamless news and information services, using video-centric Mobile App and Web Portals. It is first-of-its kind offering in India in terms of diversity and depth, dedicated journalists network, reach of 24 states with services in 13 languages i.e.– Hindi, Urdu, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Gujarati, Marathi, Bengali, Punjabi, Assamese, Odia and English. ETV Bharat is the latest initiative of the five-decade old multi-dimensional Ramoji Group. The Group's highly successful media endeavors include : Eenadu - one of the largely circulated language dailies in the country , and ETV Network with Telugu general entertainment, infotainment and news channels. With a strong lineage of the most trusted media house, ETV Bharat would draw on its strengths of decades' long experience and innovation. ETV Bharat will combine the new technologies of mobile and digital media to engage news and information seekers in a new connected world. It will be driven by well-established news gathering setup, technology specialists and other professionals.

The Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court granted interim bail on medical grounds to ailing poet-activist Varavara Rao.Climate activist Disha Ravi was granted bail by the Delhi Patiala House Court.Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has urged GST Council to bring petroleum products under GST purview as early as possible. For more live news download Etv Bharat Download ETV Bharat on App store – https://apps.apple.com/in/app/etv-bharat/id1453416186 Play Store – https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.etvbharat.android Or watch us live on – www.etvbharat.com ETV Bharat is a Division of Ushodaya Enterprises Pvt. Ltd. , is a comprehensive digital national news platform conceived to deliver seamless news and information services, using video-centric Mobile App and Web Portals. It is first-of-its kind offering in India in terms of diversity and depth, dedicated journalists network, reach of 24 states with services in 13 languages i.e.– Hindi, Urdu, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Gujarati, Marathi, Bengali, Punjabi, Assamese, Odia and English. ETV Bharat is the latest initiative of the five-decade old multi-dimensional Ramoji Group. The Group's highly successful media endeavors include : Eenadu - one of the largely circulated language dailies in the country , and ETV Network with Telugu general entertainment, infotainment and news channels. With a strong lineage of the most trusted media house, ETV Bharat would draw on its strengths of decades' long experience and innovation. ETV Bharat will combine the new technologies of mobile and digital media to engage news and information seekers in a new connected world. It will be driven by well-established news gathering setup, technology specialists and other professionals.

The SC closed its suo motu proceedings in a case related to defame former CM Ranjan Gogoi, The GST Council to discuss the merger of 12% and 18% slabs, Petrol and diesel rates risen by 34 paise and 32 paise per litre & other top stories in your morning news bulletin.

In this episode of Concept Talk, Dr. Vikas Divyakirti has done a detailed review of the GST Bill The podcast explanation is full of interesting examples that will help learn Economics concept with full clarity. The language of this podcast is in Hindi and are easy to understand to common. The discussion is about GST-2 (Hindi) - How GST System works? History of GST tax reforms: In 2002, NDA Finance Minister Jaswant Singh appointed two committees (on direct and indirect taxes, both headed by Vijay Kelkar) and from 2003 it was being toyed upon (what can we do in terms of tax reforms). Empowered committee of Finance Ministers of states (EC, formed in 2000) was asked about the reforms as the Kelkar committee clearly recommended moving to a system of goods and service tax (GST). In 2006, Finance Minister Chidambaram (UPA) took the matter forward on GST and said that from 1 April 2010 the plan was to introduce a uniform GST. Only then some serious work began on GST. By 2009, a proposal draft bill was floated and EC considered it. 115th Constitutional amendment bill was introduced and standing committee on Finance studied it. This was a long process. EC considered many changes. By 2014, it was in Lok Sabha but the Lok Sabha was dissolved. This bill lapsed. The new government (Modi goveernment, NDA) sent bill to Empowered Committee and December 2014 the amended bill was in Lok Sabha. The problem was to be in Rajya Sabha. May 2016- Lok Sabha passed it. Rajya Sabha sent it to Select Committee, considered it and suggested some changes as a condition for its passage. Rajya Sabha passed the GST bill on 3 August 2016 but with amendments (as disagreements remained between government and opposition). This was the fourth time that Rajya Sabha passed a bill with amendments in Indian parliamentary history. The talk on GST also goes in the history of politics of Rajiv Gandhi, role of Rajya Sabha in polity, Anti-defection law , reduction in voting age (from 21 to 18 years) , Panchayati Raj and Nagarpalika amndments etc. On 8 August 2016, Lok Sabha passed the GST bill with amendments. Then came the role of Article 368 where concurrence of half of state legislatures (currently 16 states) is needed for a constitutional amendment. Assam and Bihar were the first to pass the GST in state legislatures. By first week of September 2016, sixteen state legislatures (16th being Rajasthan) of India agreed to it. On 8 September 2016, President of India assented to it and GST became a law (101st constitutional amendment). Central government implemented GST beginning 12 September and all provisions were not implemented in one go. GST Council was formed first as within one year, all contrary state laws would lapse. 16 September 2017 was when government implemented the whole act. The talk also discusses the composition scheme of GST, meanings and needs of various slabs and other ingredients of the Goods and service tax (GST). The video will be helpful to students of Economics (सामान्य अध्ययन प्रमुख परीक्षा) who want to understand the topic and also to traders and others who need some help for understanding it for filing GST. Credit of this concept talk goes to Drishti IAS youtube channel. Official You Tube Channel of Drishti IAS - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzLqOSZPtUKrmSEnlH4LAvw Thank You So Much

42nd GST COUNCIL MEETING PRESS RELEASE

Chapters: 0:00 - Another 'Masterstroke' 1:44 - GST: The Grand Plan! 4:05 - Why One Nation One Tax is a good idea 5:19 - 3 years (and counting) of failed implementation 8:14 - What Went Wrong with the ambitious plan? 9:20 - Center to Borrow Money to give to States … Wait, What? Thumbnail Cartoon via Satish Acharya Twitter - @satishacharya Website - http://cartoonistsatish.com 3 years to what the NDA Government claimed was India's ‘Second Independence' After the disastrous Demonetisation experiment - GST or Goods and Services Tax was BJP's most ambitious project to boost economic growth. GST endeavoured to change the entire way trade was being done in the country and make it smoother. With revised laws and taxes, the government centralised the indirect tax system and gave more power to the Centre to control and monitor collections. But from massive growth claims - the GST Council now does not even have money to compensate the States for the shortfall in revenue collection. A hastily / unplanned / and poorly thought out GST has meant that people go through the same demonetisation pangs once more….in fact with the Govt. STILL refusing to correct its mistakes - GST has ended up being an even more convoluted system. In this episode of TheDeshbhakt, we'll talk about the 3-year long journey of the Goods and Services Tax and will find out what went wrong when the reform was itself much needed. Watch the full episode to find more! *** Subscribe to #TheDeshBhakt to unlock Discord / Exclusive Chats / Content *** PATREON MEMBERSHIP - https://www.patreon.com/thedeshbhakt (International Credit Card / Debit Card) JOIN MEMBERSHIP ON YOUTUBE - https://www.youtube.com/thedeshbhakt/JOIN INSTAMOJO - https://imjo.in/XU5arJ (Phone Pe / G Pay / PayTM / BHIM / CC / DC / Netbanking) PAYPAL - https://www.paypal.me/thedeshbhakt *********Follow us on ************ YouTube: - https://youtube.com/thedeshbhakt Twitter :- https://twitter.com/thedeshbhakt Instagram :- https://instagram.com/akashbanerjee.in Facebook :- https://www.facebook.com/akashbanerjee.in SoundCloud :- https://soundcloud.com/thedeshbhakt --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/thedeshbhakt/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thedeshbhakt/support

This episode is hosted by Meghnad S who brings you stories from Delhi, the US, Nepal, Bihar, and more. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week R. Sukumar discusses the big GST Council meeting, Paytm raising $1.4 billion from SoftBank, the Zomato security breach and the Jadav case.

‘Brand Modi' gets thumbs up as BJP sweeps Assembly elections, Honda to make a middleweight motorcycle in India to take on Royal Enfield & GST on track to meet the 1 JUly deadline.

This week Mint Editor R. Sukumar picks up the Reliance Jio story again as it opened up multiple issues this week and analyses what that means for the incumbent telcos and the investors. #RelianceJio #Vodafone #GST #MPC #India #Livemint