India's GDP continues to grow at faster pace than global economy: Finance Minister

26 Aug 2019 Evaluate

Amid doubts over the economy and government's growth agenda, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said the India's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) continues to grow at a faster pace than the global economy and any other major economy. She said reform is a continuous process for her government and it tops the agenda. Global GDP growth may be revised downwards from the current estimate of 3.2 per cent, she said adding that globally the demand was going to be weak. But, she said the Indian economy was growing faster than the global average and all other major economies.

In order to revive growth momentum, Finance Minister said the government has announced a raft of measures, including rollback of enhanced super-rich tax on foreign and domestic equity investors imposed in the Budget, exemption of startups from 'angel tax', a package to address distress in the auto sector and upfront infusion of Rs 70,000 crore to public sector banks. Also, it said Goods and Services Tax (GST) filing will be simplified further to meet the GSTN to remove further glitches in the system. All pending GST refunds due to MSMEs till now shall be paid within 30 days. In future, the GST refunds to MSMEs will be paid within 60 days. The government also increased in NHB funding from Rs 20,000 crore to Rs 30,000 crore. NBFCs will be now be permitted to use Aadhar based KYC of bank for their customers.

With an aim to revive the auto industry, Sitharaman said the government is lifting the ban on purchase of new vehicles by government departments. So far, the government departments were banned from buying vehicles. They will now be actively told to replace their old ones. The government has also raised the rate of depreciation on all vehicles, irrespective of their type, and acquired from now till March 2020, by 15% bringing the total depreciation to 30%. Next, the proposal to levy a one-time registration fee on vehicles and required to be paid upfront has been deferred till June 2020. She said BS4 compliant vehicles purchased till 31st March 2020 will remain operational for the entire period of registration.

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