The Union Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley reiterated the advantage of taking bold and courageous decisions to transform Indian economy. He said difficult decisions initially pass through difficult phases as historic decisions have temporary pain attached to them. Speaking about demonetization, Shri Jaitley said that India needs bold decisions as it is time now to clean up the table and demonetization is going to have an impact over the course of our present and future lives. Shri Jaitley was addressing a seminar on ‘GST: The game changer for Indian economy’ on the second day of vibrant Gujarat Global Investors Summit at Mahatma Mandir in Gandhinagar today.

Stressing the implementation of GST, FM said that most of the issues have been resolved; few critical issues are left which will be resolved in the next few weeks. He further added that GST Council is deliberative democracy in action and the impact of both GST and demonetization will be felt this year.

FM said, when GST merges all the taxes and makes India into one entity, it's an advantage to the assesse. Once the GST is implemented, the combination of a more digitized economy with a more efficient tax system will make India better. The Minister said that People want transparency. So, government is emphasizing on bringing transparency and elimination of discretion and Indian economy has opened up significantly in the last two years.

 About the Summit, Shri Jaitley said it has been branded as Vibrant Gujarat but it has become foremost economic conclave. It showcases both Indian economy and progress of Gujarat.

Shri Vijay Rupani, Chief Minister of Gujarat, Shri Nitin Patel, Dy. Chief Minister of Gujarat, Dr. Hasmukh Adhia, Revenue Secretary, Govt. of India, Shri Amarjeet Sohi, Minister of Infrastructure & Communities, Government of Canada were also present on the occasion.

GST implementation will unify indirect taxes and boost digitization and transparency in the tax system. Demonetization is presented as a bold decision with temporary pain aimed at cleansing the economy. The Finance Minister states that most GST implementation issues have been resolved, with remaining critical issues to be settled shortly. GST will merge multiple taxes into a unified regime, benefitting assessees through simplified compliance and a more digitized, efficient tax system. Together, GST and demonetization are said to enhance transparency, eliminate discretion, and improve tax administration.