Recharting investment regime

POLICY SHOULD ADDRESS LOW-HANGING FRUIT IN TAX & TRADE REGIME TO BUILD A RESILIENT DIGITAL ECONOMY

- MUKESH BUTANI PRANOY GOSWAMI

HE SPECTRE OF the tariff announcements by US President DonaldTrump hasledto rhetoricand clandestine anxiety on the windowsills of global policymakers.The predicament for the Indian government, grappling witha strenuous and almost macabre 50% tariff, has been subject to consternation and expectant policy rejigs. Often, a policy mandate is second-guessed through guffaws emanating from a surround-sound lyceum. The relevant question was: How shall the government mobilise a sustainable yet dynamic parlay of tax, tariffs,and trade to drive consumption and facilitate industrial bonhomie?

Prime Minister Modi’s last month’s visit to the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit and his redolent interactions with the Russian and Chinese premiers fuelled worldwide interest,as India sought to realign its economic partnership without compromising on the borderrelated friction with China. Buoyed by such ebullientinternational re-posturing, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council’s announcements on rate rationalisation and operationalisation of the GST Appellate Tribunal presents an opportunity to leverage the domestic mood and push for deeper reforms.

However,the GST system, being hailed over the last fortnight, continues to bea work in progress, having addressed conundrums of cess, inverted duties, and classification challenges. As the government works up the alley to fix these and restructure its indirect tax regime, a cursive glance at its international trade and tariff landscape merits trenchant analy-