'Government Working Towards Rationalising GST Rates'

The GST Council is working towards rationalising GST rates and a big announcement from the Government regarding GST is imminent. This was stated by Mr. Shiv Pratap Shukla, Minister of State for Finance, Government of India, while speaking at the 7th edition of ‘Delhi SME Finance Summit’ organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in New Delhi.

The Minister stressed that government is working to promote the growth of SMEs, and recognized the importance of the sector to the economy including industrial output, employment and exports.

The finance summit aimed to bridge the gap between SME borrowers who need capital to sustain or grow their businesses and lenders such as public and private banks, NBFC’s and Fintechs. Live counters were put at the Summit and many soft approvals for loans were given. According to Mr. Rahul Chaudhry, Co-Chair, Committee on MSME, CII Northern Region, and Chief Executive Officer, Servel India Ltd., CII’s target is to boost the contribution of SMEs in the manufacturing sector from current 15% to 25% of the GDP by 2022 and amplify SMEs contribution to India’s GDP from current 8% to 15% by India.

Mr. Abhimanyu Munjal, Vice-Chairman, CII Delhi & Joint Managing Director & CEO, Hero FinCorp Ltd. pointed out that a major chunk of SMEs rely on traditional ways and are lagging behind their global counterparts. “If India has to maintain the path of growth it is on, technology adaption will have to be rapid,” he said.