Cease the cess: on the GST and reforms
The other popular reform is a reduction in the number of GST rates. This, too, is overdue, and the GST Council's fitment and rate-setting committees are examining the issue. Connected to this is the question of what is to be done with the GST Compensation Cess, which is levied over and above the 28% slab. It was originally intended to compensate States for any losses arising out of GST implementation for a period of five years. It was then extended until March 2026 to repay the loan taken by the Centre to pay this compensation since the COVID-19 pandemic had disrupted revenues. The Centre should avoid the temptation to subsume this cess into the broader GST rates. Instead, with its job done, the cess must be removed. Taxation is not just a covenant between the Centre and the States. It is also one with the people. Removing a cess that is no longer needed will not only garner public praise but could also spur some sorely needed urban consumption.
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Hans India
an hour ago
- Hans India
MyVoice: Views of our readers 7th July 2025
Punish all ganja peddlers It is unfortunate that kirana stores are selling ganja chocolates quite openly (THI July 6) 0liberally. This adds to the woes as similar drugs are also available in the market. There is no denying that because of such open availability, there has been an alarming rise in users of banned substances, most of whom turn addicts. The solution is to catch the suppliers, distributors and the sellers, which can be done by the police force. All such criminals should be duly punished immediately on being caught. This will deter many criminals from indulging in the racket. G Murali Mohan Rao,Secunderabad-11 Reunion of Thackerays spells disaster Two extremely sectarian political outfits coming together does not portend well for Mumbai or Maharashtra, for that matter India as a whole. They have consistently demonstrated their extreme views and violated all constitutional norms, just for the sake of gaining political power, irrespective of the means. One should remember that Mumbai has developed into a global city due to the combined efforts of people from all over the country, and not just by the Marathi-speaking locals. It is an undeniable fact. Uddhav and Raj Thackeray will now impose parochial policies using coercion and violence. If every non-Hindi speaking State's political leadership adopts this kind of narrow-minded attitude purely on a one language issue, the time would not be far off when the country might get divided on language issues. Already the nation is caught in a divisive spree with Hindutva taking centre stage. If regionalism takes over, then the immediate fallout will be economic chaos, political instability, violence and disintegration of the nation. It would be anarchy in India, if these politicians continue with their policies of political expediency with adoption of absolute regionalism as a weapon to grab power. Govardhana Myneedu,Vijayawada Cut in Onam ration is highly condemnable The news about the Central Government's decision to stop providing Kerala with additional rice and wheat during Onam has expectedly sparked strong protests. This move, particularly discontinuation of the 'tide over' allocation of wheat for non-priority ration cardholders, has put the state and its people in a difficult position. This action evidences Centre's discrimination against states ruled by non-BJP parties. Central assistance is crucial to control price increases during the Onam festival. In a federal system, the Union Government also has the responsibility to ensure a prosperous Onam celebration in Kerala. Evading this responsibility by citing norms and financial reasons should be viewed as neglect towards the people of Kerala. Political leaders, cutting across party lines, must come forward to meet the Prime Minister and explain the gravity of the issue. There needs to be a strong public protest to ensure Kerala receives its rightful share of ration. The discrimination shown by the food department in allocating food grains must end. Padmanabha Suryanarayana,Kochi Telling tale of two words Proponents of Hindutva have turned strident in their demand for the removal of 'socialism' and 'secularism' from the Preamble of the Constitution, in an espousal of the primacy and pre-eminence of one religion and rejection of the notion of equality of religions and repudiation of the socialist ideal of equitable sharing of the country's wealth by all citizens. But then, India is a land of disparate religions, races, languages and cultures and the equation of Hindu nationalism with Indian nationalism does not mirror the country's famed diversity. Ideological heirs of M.S. Golwalkar should clarify if they still share his assessment that the Constitution is 'flawed because it contains nothing of Manusmriti in it' and if they are in favour of restoring or reintroducing hereditary hierarchy. It is a matter of national pride that we have the words 'socialist' and 'secular' in the Preamble. G David Milton,Maruthancode (TN)
Indian Express
2 hours ago
- Indian Express
Explained: How India's foreign trade has been invisibilised
International trade is normally associated with the movement of physical goods loaded onto ships, whether directly as bulk unpackaged cargo or in standard-sized containers. But trade isn't just about the exchange of tangible stuff across national borders through sea and by air. It is also about the global flows of services, people, capital, data and ideas. In India's case, the 'invisibles' trade – export and import of services plus cross-border private individual money transfers – is today bigger than the 'visible' merchandise trade account in its external balance of payments. Table 1 shows that India's exports of goods rose almost five-folds, from $66.3 billion to $318.6 billion, between 2003-04 and 2013-14. Thereafter, it flattened out and fell to below $300 billion by 2020-21, before registering a significant jump to $429.2 billion in 2021-22 and $456.1 billion in 2022-03. That was basically on the back of a rebound in global economic activity and goods demand after the all-round collapse during the Covid-19 pandemic. The value of world merchandise exports grew by 26.3% in 2021 and 11.7% in 2022, according to UNCTAD (United Nations Trade and Development) data. But after 2022-23, India's goods exports have dipped again to $441.4 billion in 2023-24 and $441.8 billion in 2024-25. On the other hand, the receipts from 'invisible' transactions – those not involving export of physical goods – have posted steady, if not impressive, increase over the last two decades and more. In gross terms, these went up nearly 4.5 times between 2003-04 and 2013-14 (from $53.5 billion to $233.6 billion) and by another 2.5 times to $576.5 billion in 2024-25. In 2013-14, India's goods exports were about $85 billion more than its receipts from invisibles. In 2024-25, it was the other way round, with invisible receipts roughly $135 billion higher than merchandise exports. While trade deals – including the one now being negotiated with the United States – are mostly focused around seaborne and airborne material cargo, India's foreign trade story in recent times has had more to do with the exports of intangibles. A break-up of India's gross invisible receipts of $576.5 billion in 2024-25 reveals $387.5 billion coming from exports of services, which have soared from a mere $26.9 billion in 2003-04 and $151.8 billion in 2013-14. The other major source of invisible income has been private transfers or remittances ($135.4 billion). This is money sent by Indians working and living abroad, be it temporarily or as permanent residents and even foreign citizens. The dollars, pounds and dirhams remitted by them is essentially receipts from export of human resources from India. The rise in private transfers – from $22.2 billion in 2003-04 and $69.6 billion in 2013-14 – is also huge, although not as steep as services exports. The latter has been powered primarily by the exports of software services – from $12.8 billion in 2003-04 to $69.5 billion in 2013-14 and $180.6 billion in 2024-25. Equally important is the export of miscellaneous 'business, financial and communication services' – from $37.5 billion in 2013-14 to $118 billion in 2024-25. Thus, services exports are not only from Information Technology engineers writing software code, but also from accountants, auditors, financial analysts, research & development professionals, management consultants and computer data storage providers. All these 'invisible' exports have seemingly been relatively immune to the vicissitudes of global business cycles, financial crises, pandemics, geopolitical conflicts or tariffs wars. And they have grown with not much government efforts at sealing bilateral trade agreements or unveiling production-linked incentive schemes. The ongoing India-US trade talks are largely over the Narendra Modi-led government seeking lower tariffs for the country's exports of textiles, leather, auto components, steel and aluminium products and the Donald Trump administration pushing hard to gain market access for American genetically modified soyabean and corn, ethanol, dairy and other farm produce. 'Invisible' services exports and foreign worker visas aren't part of the negotiations, at least for now. Table 2 (above) shows India's merchandise trade deficit virtually doubling from $147.6 billion in 2013-14 to an all-time-high of $287.2 billion in 2024-25. During the last fiscal ended March 2025, the country's goods imports, at $729 billion, far exceeded its exports of $441.8 billion. But the widening goods trade deficits have been considerably offset by surpluses on the net invisible receipts account, surging from $115.3 billion in 2013-14 to $263.8 billion in 2024-25. As a result, the overall current account deficit in India's balance of payments in 2024-25, at $23.4 billion, was actually lower than the $32.3 billion for 2013-14. Compare this to China that recorded a merchandise trade surplus of $768 billion in 2024, from goods exports of $3,409 billion versus imports of $2,641 billion. But unlike India, China had a deficit of $344.1 billion on its net invisibles account. That led to a narrowing down of its overall current account surplus to $423.9 billion in 2024. China, simply put, is the 'factory of the world' due to its dominance in global manufacturing. That's reflected in its running humungous goods trade surpluses year after year. However, when it comes to services, China's imports in 2024, at $613 billion, were way higher than its corresponding exports of $384 billion. India, on its part, can lay claim to being the 'office of the world'. Its services trade surplus alone was $188.8 billion in 2024-25, with exports at $387.5 billion and imports at $198.7 billion. The large net surplus of $263.8 billion from all 'invisible' transactions, including private remittances, is what helped contain its overall current account deficit to a manageable $23.4 billion in 2024-25. Whichever way one looks at, it is 'invisibles' – and not physical movement of goods – that have been the key drivers of India's foreign trade. Harish Damodaran is National Rural Affairs & Agriculture Editor of The Indian Express. A journalist with over 33 years of experience in agri-business and macroeconomic policy reporting and analysis, he has previously worked with the Press Trust of India (1991-94) and The Hindu Business Line (1994-2014). ... Read More
The Hindu
2 hours ago
- The Hindu
L-G Sinha, Union Minister Goyal pay tributes to Syama Prasad on 124th birth anniversary in Kashmir
Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, and Textiles Piyush Goyal on Sunday (July 6, 2025) lauded the role of Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee, founder of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, for integrating J&K into India on his 124th birth anniversary. J&K L-G Sinha announced to launch a two-year celebratory campaign to honour the life and legacy of Dr. Mookerjee and his role in strengthening national unity and advocating 'One Nation, One Constitution' for a brighter future of J&K. 'Mookerjee Ji was one of the key architects of modern India and a visionary statesman, educationist and fearless Parliamentarian whose ideals continue to shape the destiny of India,' L-G Sinha said. He said Mookerjee sacrificed his life for unification of J&K with India and was a proponent of 'One Nation, One Constitution, One Symbol' and opposed Article 370. 'His martyrdom in Srinagar while fighting for J&K's complete integration, remained a defining moment in the nation's history. Prime Minister Narendra Modi fulfilled Mookerjee's dream 66 years after his martyrdom,' he added. Recalling the role of Mookerjee in integrating J&K into India, Union Minister Goyal said the Centre's decision of August 5, 2019 to do away with Article 370 and 35A finally led to the complete integration of J&K into India as envisaged by him. 'Mookerjee quit the Jawaharlal Nehru government as a Minister in 1953. He visited J&K without a permit and died under mysterious circumstances. His sacrifice, however, did not go to waste. After August 5, 2019, all laws are applicable in J&K,' he said. Mookerji died in a jail in J&K 1953 during the government of then J&K Prime Minister Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah. No regional party or ruling National Conference attended any function organised for the Jan Sangh leader. Mr. Goyal also praised people of Kashmir for standing against terrorism and lending support to the 'Operation Sindoor'', which India launched after the Pahalgam terror attack that left 26 civilians dead. 'People of J&K showed to the world that such terror attacks will not make this place stop. This terror attack was not only on tourists but also on the economy of J&K. Pakistan was given a strong reply through the 'Operation Sindoor' for supporting terrorists. Like Maoism, we will end terrorism too with the help of Kashmiris. There is a mismatch between what Pakistan says and does. Pakistan needs to take concrete measures against terrorists and their infrastructure and hand over wanted terrorists to India to prove they mean what they say,' Mr. Goyal added. Meanwhile, the Union Minister, during a separate function in Srinagar, said the Union Territory will soon get a dedicated design and packaging hub and a state-of-the-art Centre of Excellence to boost the industrial and agricultural sectors. 'The Omar Abdullah government in J&K and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government at the Centre will jointly work towards reviving tourism and trade in the UT,' Mr. Goyal said. He embarked on measures to integrate J&K into national and global markets through value addition and sustainable development models. 'We are exploring a public-private partnership model to make the Centre of Excellence a hub of new technologies, product research, packaging design, and food processing solutions,' he said. He said his Ministry was exploring solar rooftop installations at the industrial estate in Lassipora, Pulwama, which has 10 lakh square feet of built-up space. 'If we use green energy for production, our exports can get premium value as certified eco-friendly products,' he said. He also underlined that there was a need to maintain a minimum import price of ₹75 on imported apples with a 50% duty to ensure Kashmiri apples remain competitive. 'We import apples worth ₹140 crore. But our own growers should not suffer. This must be a win-win for farmers and consumers,' he said.
