Weaving Growth with GST

Simplified, rationalised GST reforms promise wider tax buoyancy, stronger textile demand, thriving crafts, and accessible apparel—creating economic growth rooted in India’s cultural heritage

- RAJINDER KUMAR THE WRITER IS THE ECONOMIC ADVISOR, MINISTRY OF TEXTILES, GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

On September 3, the GST Council recommended historic next-generation GST reforms.

Among several advantages, a key benefit of these reforms is that they have created comprehensive socioeconomic synergies across sectors of the Indian economy, further strengthening the supply-value chain across the economy. Procedural simplification, rationalisation, digital integration, and enhanced supply-chain transparency will go a long way in bolstering the GST compliance architecture and augmenting tax buoyancy with a wider tax base.

The textiles sector occupies a central place in India’s economic framework, directly employing 45 million people (a large proportion of whom are women) and contributing about 2 per cent to GDP, 10 per cent to industrial production, and 8.63 per cent to the country’s total exports.