GST has brought positive changes in the economy and in the way financial activities were carried out earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday.
The prime minister was speaking at the foundation stone laying ceremony of paperless Vanijya Bhawan, a new office complex in the national capital for the department of commerce that is estimated to cost Rs 226 crore.
Modi has also given assurance to complete the construction of Vanijya Bhawan before December 2019. "I believe the construction of Vanijya Bhawan will be completed before December 2019," ANI quoted PM Modi as saying.
The prime minister further went on to describe NDA government's achievement in the last four years and said, "Technology has eased ways of doing business today and this is going to grow in years to come".
He said GDP growth touched 7.7 per cent in the last quarter of 2017-18 fiscal but now the time has come to look beyond 7-8 per cent growth and target double-digit expansion.
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The world, he said, is watching as to when India will break into the USD 5 trillion economy club by doubling its economy.
Also, the government is targeting doubling India's share in world trade to 3.4 per cent, he said, stressing on reducing dependence on imports in sectors like oil through domestic manufacturing.
The country has moved away from a culture of delaying work through 'atkana, latkana and bhatkana' (obstructing, delaying and misguiding), the PM stated while lsiting out his government's achievement.
Modi said 54 lakh new taxpayers have sought registration under the new regime, taking the number of indirect taxpayers to over one crore. This compares to 60 lakh indirect taxpayers in the pre-GST era, the Prime Minister said. Foreign direct investment inflows, as well as foreign exchange reserves, are at record highs, he added.
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Being built on a plot of 4.33 acres, Vanijya Bhawan belongs to erstwhile Directorate General of Supplies and Disposals (DGS&D), the Commerce Ministry earlier said in a statement.
The building, which will accommodate about 1,000 officers and other staff, will be environmental-friendly. It will be a completely paperless office with modern facilities such as smart access control, video conferencing and completely networked systems.
Going by the official statement, over 56 per cent of the 214 trees on the plot are either being left untouched or being replanted on the same plot.
With the addition of new responsibilities like integrated logistics sector development, the role of the department will become even more important for the economic growth of the country, the statement added further.
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The department is currently housed in Udyog Bhawan, which also has a large number of other ministries leading to a constraint of space.
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