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The common goods and services tax (GST) will be implemented across the country in the course of next year, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Monday.
Jaitley presented the GST bill to parliament in December, which needs the support of two-thirds of its members as well as ratification by state legislatures.
Investors and manufacturers have long coveted the GST as a game-changer that would simplify taxes while broadening the tax base, adding as much as 2 percentage points to the size of Asia's third-largest economy.
Meanwhile, the finance ministry's chief economic adviser Arvind Subramanian today said that growth slowdown has bottomed out and the pace of economic expansion is expected to accelerate now.
The economy grew below 5% in the past two years - the longest spell of sub-par growth since 1980s. However, it is expected to grow about 5.5% in the fiscal year that ends in March.
