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    ISAS Insights

    Detailed perspectives on developments in South Asia​​

    312 : The Goods & Services Tax Debate in India: Concepts and Issues

    S Narayan , Visiting Senior Research Fellow at ISAS

    5 February 2016

    The chequered but ongoing political efforts to introduce a uniform Goods & Services Tax (GST) throughout India should actually be seen through a larger economic prism. The current sense of urgency, regardless of the web of politics in which this move is caught, can be explained by a simple but important expectation. The GST can indeed be a game changer for trade among India's sub-national states, because the measure, as conceived, is likely to contribute at least one percentage point to the growth in the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP).