Jaitley pulls up opposition, says GST will push growth

Lambasting the opposition for posing a hurdle, the Finance Minister added that "nobody had the right to stop or stall the growth of India"

Amidst the ongoing deadlock in the Parliament over the passage of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday said that nobody had the right to stop or stall the growth of India, adding that the landmark legislation aiming at reforming the direct taxation system in the country could push the growth by 1-1.5 %.

Jaitley, who was speaking at an interactive session on 'GST in India', lambasted the opposition for posing a hurdle in the passage of the GST Bill.

"At this stage, the opposition has lip sympathy for GST but it ends with that. Intention is that India must not grow - the attitude is 'India did not grow when we were in power so we will not let India grow now," he said.

Jaitley pointed out that the Rajya Sabha numbers even today are in favour of GST and asserted that the numbers would be more favorable by April next year.

"History will not only record the disrupters but also us if we allow the disruptions to happen," he said.

The Finance Minister also said India is managing a respectable growth rate in spite of the global slowdown.

"In the coming year if we are able to implement the GST, I have already committed to bringing the highest slab down," said Jaitley.

"I realise that executive actions and Money Bills are more easily implementable than routine legislation. And when I say this, I say it with a sense of responsibility," he added.