Mahindra Electric Chairman praises GST, 'Make in India' initiatives

Mahindra Electric Chairman Pawan Goenka has lauded the BJP-led NDA government for its policies, including the Goods and Services Tax and Make-In-India initiatives. He said the Make-in-India initiative has helped India receive a lot of investments in manufacturing. 

"First of all, let me tell you that GST has been the most impactful change in the tax law of India, and everybody will acknowledge that. And, with the result of GST, the ease of business has improved. We also highly welcome 'Make in India' initiative. Clearly, the effort the Narendra Modi government has taken in formalising the economy is paying off," he told PTI after the inauguration of the firm's first-ever Electric Technology Manufacturing hub here. 

Goenka said it was not possible to correct India's deep-rooted informal economy in one move. "...everything cannot get corrected in one move. It will take time. If the same thrust continues from this government (Modi government) or whoever forms the next government, to formalise the economy, it will then slowly happen, which is obviously good for any organisation," he said. 

On the Make-in-India initiative, Goenka said "I have talked about how we would like to see electric vehicles being tagged as Make In India. Clearly with this (Make in India) thrust, a lot of investment is happening in India in manufacturing. And, with the ease of doing business ranking going up to 77 this time, clearly the work the government is doing in terms of 'ease of doing' business is working. So, therefore if I look in entirety, this policy of this government is also working," he said. 

India was ranked 100th in the World Bank's ease of doing a business report last year. Goenka said Mahindra and Mahindra were very happy with the outcome of GST as it has formalised the economy and eradicated constraints in cross-border movement of goods and services, besides far too many taxes. 

"We used to have many taxes, but with the implementation of GST, we don't have to keep so many different accounts, and also all constraints regarding the cross-border movement of goods and services have been eliminated. We are very very happy with GST's outcome," he said. One can always talk about GST rate is higher or lower, but these are very minor issues, he added.

(With inputs from agencies.)