As the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presents her second Union Budget 2020-21 on Saturday, she took the opportunity to pay homage to her predecessor, Arun Jaitley, who passed away in August last year.
The minister described Jaitley as the ‘architect of GST’.
“GST has been historic, I pay homage to visionary leader Arun Jaitley who launched it,” said Sitharaman.
During her speech, she said that the GST has helped in formalisation of the economy. She added that today the household is saving 4 per cent of spending after the implementation of GST.
The union minister further said that a simplified return for GST will be introduced from April 2020.
“GST has resulted in efficiency gains in transport and logistics sector, inspector raj has vanished, it has benefitted MSME. Consumers have got an annual benefit of Rs one lakh crore by GST” she added.
The GST, which came into effect from July 1, 2017, has faced numerous challenges in its implementation.
“During the maturing of GST, it faced challenges. The GST Council has been proactive in resolving issues during the transition. 40 crore returns have been filed, 800 crore invoices uploaded, 105 crore e-way bills generated,” the finance minister said.
(With input from agencies)