GST will open India to new limitless possibilities: Arun Jaitley

New Delhi: Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Friday said India was making history with the launch of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), which would open the country to limitless possibilities to expand its economic horizons with the regime of one tax, one nation and one market.

Jaitley also hailed all the political parties for rising above the narrow politics in the national interest by backing the pan-India indirect tax regime.

"We have assembled  (Friday) for an important journey of the nation. We are in the process of making history with the launch of the GST," Jaitley said, speaking in Parliament during the special function of GST launch. 

President Pranab Mukherjee, Vice President M. Hamid Ansari, Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with several cabinet ministers and MPs were present in Parliament. 

"At the midnight hour we will be launching one of India`s strongest and most ambitious tax and economic reforms in history," he said. 

He said that the GST may be a destination tax but for India it will begin altogether a new journey. "It`s a journey where India will awake to limitless possibilities, to expand its economic horizons, and loftier political visions," he said. 

"The old India was economically fragmented. The new India will create one tax, one market and for one nation. It will be an India where the Centre and the states work together cooperatively and harmoniously towards the common goal of shared prosperity," he said.

Jaitley also hailed the unanimity of all the political parties for supporting GST and said, "The unanimity and support for the constitution amendment and the consensus based work of the GST Council highlights that India can rise above narrow politics and speak in one voice for larger national interest." 

He also highlighted that the quality and the maturity of the debate leading to the constitutional amendments in the GST Council underscores this point that "India can collectively think and act with maturity for a broader purpose". 

Jaitley also emphasised that India is a union of states. "The union is strong if both the states and the Centre are strong. That is the real meaning of the cooperative federalism. While enacting the GST neither the Centre nor the states give up their sovereignty. They have pooled their sovereignty to make joint decisions on indirect taxes," the Fiance Minister said. 

Jaitley said India has done this at a time when the world is facing slow growth, isolationism and the lack of structural reforms. 

"With the GST India has showcased that these forces can be overcome through the display of inclusion, openness and boldness," the Finance Minister said.