22 States Abolish Check Posts After GST Rollout, 8 in process
As many as 22 states, including Delhi, West Bengal and Maharashtra, have abolished check posts within three days of the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST).
Eight states, including Assam, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, and some north-eastern states, are also in the process of abolishing check posts, a finance ministry statement said.
State border check posts scrutinise material and location-based tax compliance, resulting in delays in delivery of goods and cause environment pollution as trucks queue up for clearance.
One of the key objectives of the GST, which came into effect from July 1, was to make India a single market where goods and services can flow seamlessly.
The other important states which have abolished the check post include Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
With the abolition of check posts, the long queues often witnessed at state borders will not be seen.
Sensex Closes on 300-point High
Equity benchmark indices ended the session on Monday on an extremely strong note, with the Nifty closing above the crucial 9600-mark.
The Sensex closed 300 points higher at 31221.62, while the Nifty closed 94.1 points higher at 9615.
ITC, Hero MotoCorp and Bharti Infratel were the top gainers on both indices, while NTPC, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Jaypee Infra lost the most.
Twitter Records Over 1 Million Conversations on GST Launch
GST implementation has created both excitement as well as apprehension among people in the country.
The discussion started at midnight when the new tax regime was rolled out. Twitter saw over one million GST-related Tweets between 30 June - 2 July. Top hashtags around the conversation show all sides to the story, including: #GSTCouncil, #GSTIndia, #GST@GoI, #GSTRate, GST, #GST, #GSTsimplified, #IndiaforGST, askGST, #GSTForCommonMan, #HalfCookedGST, #HalfBakedGST.
Market Takes Weeknd Gains Further
The GST impacted the share market positively, hitting a bright sport starightaway as the Sensex moved beyond 31,000 at the start, extending its weekend gains amid mixed Asian cues.
The 30-share index, after soaring 337 points to touch a high of 31,258.33 at the outset, let go of some gains and traded at 31,069.20, up 147.59 points, or 0.48 percent. FMCG, metal, consumer durables, realty and auto stocks went higher by up to 3.42 percent.
The gauge had rallied 87.29 points in the previous two sessions.
The NSE index Nifty recaptured the 9,600 level by surging 91.85 points, or 0.96 percent, to 9,612.75.
Investors remained optimistic of the GST rollout on 1 July as they felt that the sweeping tax reform will give huge momentum to the country’s economy and tempt global businesses to invest here, traders said.
ITC climbed 5.79 percent, Tata Steel 1.16 percent and M&M 1.10 percent.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up 0.08 percent and Japan's Nikkei rose 0.13 percent in early trade today. Shanghai Composite, however, came down 0.17 percent.
The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.29 percent higher on Friday.
Moody's Gives GST a Thumbs-Up
Implementation of the GST will be positive for India's rating as it will lead to higher GDP growth and increased tax revenues, Moody's Investors Service said on Sunday.
Over the medium term, we expect that the GST will contribute to productivity gains and higher GDP growth by improving the ease of doing business, unifying the national market and enhancing India’s attractiveness as a foreign investment destinationWilliam Foster, Vice-President (Sovereign Risk Group), Moody’s
The GST will also support higher government revenue generation through improved tax compliance and administration.
"Both will be positive for India's credit profile, which is constrained by a relatively low revenue base," Foster said.
Moody's has a 'Baa3' rating on India with a positive outlook.