Expressing his optimism about government’s reform measures, Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu has said that the upcoming Goods and Service Tax (GST) regime among other new transformations will be a game changer for the media and entertainment industry, especially the broadcasting sector and added that campaigns like Make in India, Skill India and Digital India were positive signals for new transformation.
Noting India’s broadcasting sector is at the threshold of entering into new era of digital broadcasting, Naidu said that this would open lots of opportunities to use advanced technological innovations to enhance the reach of media along with enhancing the quality of the reach. He assured the government's commitment towards providing an enabling environment through various policies for the further growth of the media sector, praising the initiatives such as Digital India campaign along with the Make in India campaign and expects that they would strengthen the industries such as video streaming, online music services and gaming in India taking advantage of the increased internet penetration.
Eight state assemblies have passed the State Goods and Services Tax (SGST) Bill in April-May as the Centre gears up to roll out the new indirect tax regime nationwide from July. The remaining states/UTs (having Legislative Assemblies) are likely to pass the Bill before the end of this month. Some that get left would be approving it next month.