Sisodia hopes for GST rollout from July 1

New Delhi: Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia today expressed hope that GST, the new indirect tax regime, will be rolled out from July 1. "I am hopeful and looking forward to the GST.

Union cabinet has approved it and I hope Parliament will also pass it," Sisodia told reporters here. Sisodia was replying to a query on whether GST will be rolled out from July or not.

The Union Cabinet this week cleared four supplementary GST legislations which will be introduced in Parliament in the ongoing budget session. On ease of doing business in the national capital, Sisodia, who also holds finance portfolio, said the government is taking steps in improving Delhi's ranking.

"We are making things online and easy for industry and trade...Skill development and education is feeder for the industry and we are working on that," he added. As per the report of the World bank and the DIPP, Delhi was ranked 19th in ease of doing business in India.

He said there are several reasons for dip in Delhi's latest ranking since it is not a manufacturing state. "It is largely a trade and services state and in that, we are improving. Industry (manufacturing) is very limited in  Delhi.

In services, we will make Delhi number one," he said. Speaking at a function on 'Building Competitive North', he asked the industry chambers to provide clear inputs on issues they are facing so that the state government can work on them.

He also said that an informal group of finance ministers of Northern India is meeting time and again to discuss and resolve issues related to industry. Delhi government is working on imparting quality skills in youth so that they get good employment opportunities, he said urging the industry to come forward and work on framing a "perfect" training centre.

"We also need to evaluate the work going on in the skill centres to improve the quality," Sisodia said.