GST Rate Cuts Promise Cheaper Goods, But At What Cost?

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Hi, and welcome to the Core Reports Weekend Edition, there have been tax cuts on hundreds of items ranging from daily use, food, personal care, medicines, to cars, air conditioners and refrigerators, and many more. There's also been a simplification of rates. So we are now down to two broad rates, 5 and 18%, as opposed to four rates earlier.

There's also a syntax where some things including cigarettes, big cars and carbonated beverages will go into a 40% bracket, which was also 40% earlier, but configured differently. Now there are some surprises, clothing above 2500 rupees or apparel is going to be moving to a higher rate of 18%. If you travel by air, and if you travel by premium economy or business or first class, you're going to again, be a higher rate of tax than before.

The government is set to lose about 48,000 crore rupees from this whole effort. But the big question, of course, is will the increased consumption offset some of this? And there are some theories on that.

Now, all of this will kick in from September 22nd. And the question now, of course, as we dive into it is how will this play out, and particularly in the next few days. Remember, a lot of people have been holding back on purchases ever since the prime minister made that announcement on the 15th of August on the Independence Day, saying that there was a Diwali gift coming in the form of lower goods and services tax rates.

But we do have the tax rates now. They're much lower. They're expected to benefit the economy in general.

Stock prices of consumer facing companies have also done well, and of course, corrected somewhat. So to discuss all of this, I'm joined by two guests, S. Ramesh, Managing Director, Pricewaterhouse and Company, former chairman of the Central Board of Indirect Tax and Customs until about 2018.

I'm also joined by Krishan Arora, Head of Indirect Tax at Grant Thornton Bharat. Thank you both for joining me. Mr. Ramesh, let me start with you. So I'm going to focus a little more on the fine print as well as on the unfinished agenda. So your headline takeaways first.

S Ramesh

Yeah. So I think a few takeaways are as follows, because this has been a very historic and a very bold move. I think since the beginning of the launch of GST, there have been several changes across the board, across so many GST council meetings.

But the 56th GST council meeting is going to go down in the annals of GST as one of the most important, primarily because it was because of consensus among the states and the centre that such a massive rationalisation has happened. And this consensus speaks very highly of the entire country as such. They've all come together at this time of crisis where we are faced with external crisis, and it's time for India to wake up and pull up its socks.

So GST 2.0 has given a rejuvenation of sorts by bringing down the rates, as you rightly told, very, very low rates, 5% is one of the lower and least rates among countries across the bad jurisdiction. This is something which has happened in one big swoop and swell. So this actually happened because of the consensus and the way in which the government has clearly told that despite the anticipated possibility of a revenue, temporary loss in revenue, still, because of the expected consumption boost, which will happen on mass consumption items, this is a very, very bold step.

And we need to wait and see how this will be taken up by industry, by the common man, and in the next few months.

And when you say how it will be taken up by industry, you mean whether industry will transmit the benefits of that tax rate to consumers, right?

S Ramesh

Transmission is one small aspect of this whole story. So it's a temporary phenomenon, rate cuts have to be transmitted, there's no doubt about it. The industry has promised on its own behalf to the government, the government is very confident that having seen the past, the way experience has happened, government is confident.

But more importantly, if consumption boost happens, then industry itself will grow in a bigger way. And the sense that FDI and the economic activity in the country will be stimulated. So I think this rate cut is going to be a big stimulus for the economy as a whole, for the industry as a whole, from a larger perspective, rather than rate reduction and rate transmission.

Okay. Krishan, let me come to you. So what are your, what have you taken away? I mean, also the question is not the original announcement, because that was Wednesday night and a few days have passed. As you've sort of distilled and gone through the fine print, what's your sense?

Krishan Arora

I think, first part, kudos that this council meeting, like, you know, Mr. Ramesh also mentioned, it is one of the landmark events, I think we all know that, I think from the perspective of the shift towards that inclusive growth, fiscal integrity, global competitiveness, I think it's a huge, you know, huge announcement, which has gone to the market, as well as international markets that, you know, we are here to kind of attract more investment. So I think positives, too many positives around what we've been discussing, I think a lot of that has only been discussed.

But I think, so to say, when we talk about consumption, and when we talk about, you know, that spending grow, growing, I think that's gonna basically look at, you know, that negating that impact of that. And that's been called temporary because of the reason that, and you know, you heard that by in the discussion with the, you know, in the industry and the, you know, in the media, that it was clearly mentioned that, you know, this is not a loss, we should not call it a loss. It is an impact which is there.

But yeah, we've got ways to kind of look at it. And that ways to look at it is that this is gonna increase spending, this is gonna increase the benefit. But truly, I think the biggest moot point is that benefit has been promised to be passed on to the customers.

And when we look at, you know, history, I think when we, when we talked about FMCG industry, pharma industry, where the rates have gone down drastically, there is obviously just not the impact of the rate change from rate going down from say, 18 to 5 or 12 to 5. It is more important to see the net impact because today the stocks may be lying at different places. It may be lying at your warehouses, it may be lying at your distributors, it may be lying at retailers.

GST, when it came, I think it gave a lot of time to plan all of that. I think we are talking about 22nd September. But my view is that all of this to be done by then, it also casts a lot of obligation on the industry to manage such a change in such a quick time, while they're taking it very positively.

But what we are also experiencing is that it is not a situation where the benefit is actually the true benefit of rate change. It is also an impact where you may want to re-label, you may want to, you know, look at your pricing again. If you have to pass on that burden, you know, pricing to the end customer, how will you do that in such a quick time?

And the last part being of that is that, you know, there is still a possibility that some of my procurements and large part of my services are still taxed at 18%. So if my rate goes on to 5 from 18 and 12, I may have an inverted duty structure to manage. So if that continues to happen, what do I do?

Krishan, can you give us an example? Suppose you were to take a packet of biscuits or a bar of soap, could you tell us the one or two situations where…

Krishan Arora

Yeah, I'll give you a live issue. A lot of, you know, pharma products which have been taxed earlier at 12% and have gone down to 5. There were many at 5, but they've gone down at 12 from 5 to 5, say insulin and many other products which have gone down.

So what is happening is that there is obviously an element of tax burden which has already been passed on in terms of the manufacturing of that product, which has gone to the distributor and the retail level where 12% tax would have been charged to each of these stages. Now, it's a value added tax, obviously. So all the tax has been lying as accumulated tax as far as the stock which is unsold.

OK, now what happens is that moment the rate change happens on 22nd of September and rate goes down to 5%, I'm obligated to charge 5%. So this tax rate, which is going to be at 5% on these products, will be at the retail level. At that point of time, I've already incurred a higher tax on my input side, which is at 12 or 18%.

Now I have to charge 5%, so I have obviously got a larger amount of input tax credit, which is lying there. So what will happen? I will have to look at accumulation of that amount in terms of, you know, getting it back from the government because I could have easily set it off because of my value addition of my margins.

I would have been able to take a set of that had the tax rates been same. Now, my tax rates on the input side are higher. My output rate will go down.

Customers will be expecting that the rate change will also benefit them and they will be charged a lower rate. But at the same time, I have a situation to handle. I have to look at the taxes which are getting accumulated.

Net benefit has to be passed on. What is the way of me, you know, utilising or liquidating my input taxes is something I have to manage. I think that's something which is a huge issue for me to manage.

And that's what people are talking about.

S Ramesh

To add to his point, very briefly, I would like to say that, for instance, take the auto industry. A lot of dealers are having the cars. Now, the rates have changed, including the compensation says.

He spoke about rate change. Now, compensation says is also going away on some cars and the rate is becoming from 28 to 40 without the compensation says. Now, when the dealer bought the car, he would have incurred the compensation says and would have been passed on.

Now, this compensation says is also an issue for the major auto industry, because what happens to this compensation says post the time of 22nd September, when it is no longer actually levy, it is a big issue for the auto industry and many other industries like beverages, which face the compensation says. They have not only accumulated tax, but also the compensation says, which is also a big amount. For instance, in the leasing companies, car leasing companies, the problem is even more acute, at least in the car industry, OEMs, which can pass on the credit to that extent.

It's only the number of cars. Here in a leasing industry, when the cars are actually leased, the lease period is spreading over several years. They recover the cost of the car over several years.

What happens is that the compensation says will suddenly drop and it will be a huge burden on the leasing companies and they may not be able to pass it on to the end consumers. So it's going to be a huge burden, unlike the OEMs who have only a few set of cars for a limited time. For leasing industry, it's going to be a problem which will happen on them for more than several years, maybe five years, 10 years or so.

And sometimes it's a huge amount. So this is also another problem. The government is now being requested to look at this.

Hopefully, the government will come with some transition, sort of a circular guidance which can ease the problem. But I think this, to allow compensation to lapse abruptly will definitely have implications for the industry and for the consumer also.

And Mr. Ramesh, do you feel that people who've already incurred cost, as Krishan was saying, I mean, will they get a refund from the government? I mean, essentially, what is the fate of stocks that are already in the pipeline and yet not bought by the customer?

S Ramesh

Yeah, as far as compensation is concerned, the chairman of CBIC has announced that there will be no refund. Obviously, it looks like the balance available with them, the credit balance, will lapse. So that will be a cost incurred by the dealer or the OEM and that may have to be passed on at some point of time to the ultimate consumer.

So how much of the rate transmission, reduction transmission will happen depends on all these factors. Hopefully, the government will come with some sort of a guidance as to overcome this. We'll have to see what happens.

Otherwise, I think companies will be forced to litigate the matter. It could be a possible litigation because it's a huge cost. It's not a small time affair which happens.

It's a huge cost. So this disruption which is caused by the cessation of compensation sales on most of the items is going to be a huge burden on the industry, which needs to be mitigated in some form or manner.

So you're seeing the compensation cess as a slab, I mean, or a category being a point of contention, but you're not seeing any other problems in the other products?

S Ramesh

The other products, as Krishan was saying, the other products, FMCG and medicines, for instance, the tax itself is a burden. The 7 percent, which is a differential between 12 and 5, will have to be borne by the dealer. Ultimately, the dealer has bought it at 12.

He will be forced to sell it post 22nd September at 5 percent. So the dealer is going to incur a loss. So will it be subsidised by the manufacturer, by which part of the chain we'll have to see how it is going to be mitigated and what are the steps, how to mitigate this?

There could be some measures to do it. The government will announce some measures. But I think this could end up as a cost if there are no methods to mitigate it.

Krishan Arora

Yeah, just to add to that, because, you know, when GST came, like I mentioned, there was enough time given for people to manage their transition stock and inventory. I think that's not the case here right now.

And I would have, I think industry, what I'm hearing is that industry would have been happy that if they got a rollover period of about two, three months, they would have been able to manage a lot of things. But yes, we are looking at the positive intent. We are looking at industry wants to pass the benefit.

Definitely. And this time when we call it Bonanza and festive time. So, you know, timing is bad and, you know, it's being implemented.

So even if we assume that positive intent, there is a lot of rework to do for them. And that possible 7 percent loss is something definitely is a concern for them right now.

And I'm going to come to overall administrative reforms in a second. But Mr. Ramesh, let me come back to you. What has been the approach of the CBIC in the past? I mean, we have moved rates up and down in the past as well. Of course, not not in this dramatic fashion, but what have we done?

S Ramesh

This has been a very historic council meeting because primarily the rates structure has been looked at from the prism of simplification and dispute mitigation. Earlier, what was happening is that they used to look at two products and try to mitigate the sort of issues vis-a-vis those two products. But now they have seen the broader context, the entire spectrum of things.

They've said, OK, this 12 percent, which is lying, which is right, which is there, which is giving just about seven to eight percent of the total revenue. If you do away with it, what happens? What about the 28 percent?

Can it go away to some other higher percent? Why should we have so many goods like cement sitting in 28 percent? So a relook of all all the items has been done in a very methodical fashion.

I'm sure this paperwork has spanned over several months. It's not done over a period of a day or two.

I mean, several years, actually..

S Ramesh

At least a year. And it has been done consciously to, number one, to make India as a very, very reasonable VAT jurisdiction or a GST jurisdiction. The rates like 5 percent and 18 percent are very, very good. And absolutely any foreign investor will look at these rates and say, yes, this is a very good jurisdiction to invest.

Technically, also from the classification point of view and dispute resolution, the CBIC is also moved away from the prism of looking at HSN wise. There used to be something called a harmonised system of classification or HSN. They used to look at the HSN and decide the classification, then the rate.

Now they have broadbanded the goods, like all food items, all roti, chapati, all breads come together, medicines all come together. So they have broadbanded and tried to bring all those things. They set aside the HSN issue for the time being to try to bring all this by broadbanding and making things more simpler, both for the taxpayer, the business and for the consumer also, and bring it to such lower rates is something which they have really worked upon because the revenue implication, which has been told is definitely a proper amount.

But then if one never knows how the past performance, as they say, is not a proper indicator of the future. So we don't know how things will pan out. But definitely this rates rationalisation exercise, which has been done, is something which has been done really with the complete overall of the system and not merely tinkering with small classification issues or valuation disputes, which have been happening in the past.

Right. And just to spend a minute on it, Mr. Ramesh, what you also said earlier is that or highlighted is that the political will, that's the combined political will, centre and states to bring or rather take all of this together and push it through is also something that we've not seen before.

S Ramesh

Yeah, see, GST council has always worked on a principle of consensus and that's always been there, except for a rare instance of what being done. That too, it was not considered at all. It was taken otherwise on consensus.

So I think the principle of consensus has always been there. But the principle of consensus to be applied on such a massive scale of changes and such revolutionary changes like having a entire look at the GST rate structure and trying to improve the things have been something which is remarkable. The states know that there could be a blip in revenue for some time.

There could be some sort of an issue in some states more than others because revenue is not equally distributed among states. There's going to be a 48,000 implication, which the revenue secretary mentioned. It's going to be dispersed across states in a disproportionate manner.

Some states may feel the burden more than the others. But in the interest of the entire country at large, I think this is an important moment for India. Let's do it and let's get forward to the next reforms.

So this is a very crucial turning point so that India is ready for the next crucial reforms in GST.

OK, and I'll come to that in a second. So, Krishan, you know, one of the issues around administrative reform has been the GST appellate tribunals, which really did not exist. And we are now saying that we now understand that they will start working at the end of this month. They start hearing by the end of the year.

I mean, is that something that addresses some of the administrative lacunae that we had in the GST system? Is there more to do or more could have been done at this point?

Krishan Arora

I think it's been a long pending, you know, ask. It's not easy to implement it. It has taken a long time.

I think this was an expected part that, you know, when will it start functioning? When will it start functioning? I think it's been clarified.

And now we know that it's very, very close to that. We still have some time from now when they will be fully functional. But that was a need of the hour because, you know, this obviously creates a burden of litigation, which has been pending, number one.

Number two, obviously, a lot of people are factoring, provisioning and contingent liabilities in their books, which is actually optically looking at demands, but which have not been addressed. Second, people have gone to the higher courts and also have been told that, you know, you should wait for the tribunals to function. So obviously, the whole judiciary has to kind of align to that understanding that now that it's going to function, a lot of that pendency of matters which have gone to the higher courts has to also come down to the tribunals.

So that's something which is there. But the burden on the judiciary also will be taken away. And it was also much needed because those matters which were going up also had to be addressed individually because of the fact that everybody who had had demands which were which were being disputed had to come back in some fashion in terms of relief.

So people had money stuck. People had demands which were open. So all of these things required these tribunals to be available right from the time actually when GST came in.

But it's taken a long time. I think still even now, I think the part which is expected is that they start functioning. But I was expecting that and this could have been a move earlier as well, which the industry was expecting some sort of amnesty to kind of take care of some past matters.

And some of that could have been managed in a way that the burden should have been kind of negated by some extent in that case.

Krishan, intuitively or otherwise, I mean, what would be the what would be the kind of cases or the majority of the kind of cases that could have gone or could have gone to a tribunal but instead have been kicked around to the courts in the last few years?

Krishan Arora

I don't have the number readily available with me.

Not the number, I'm saying the kind. I mean, what would be the most most of the disputes would be of what kind?

Krishan Arora

I think a lot of issues on the mismatch part, which had been not addressed, which had gone there. Classification may have been an issue. And, you know, we all know that these rate classification, HSM classification issues had continued to be prevailing in that.

There were lots of issues on the services sector as well, where intermediary was an issue, which has now been addressed, obviously. And that has been continued. So I think there are a combination of these issues on classification, base of supply.

I think also, obviously, on mismatches, which could be probably pending at different levels. And that's something which continues to be an issue which has been which will be coming up at the tribunal level probably. So those things would be probably continuing to be happening.

S Ramesh

One unique thing about the tribunal is that it is the last fact finding authority. When you go to the Supreme Court or High Court, it is only on a question of law. So the tribunal plays a very important role in the entire chain of the appellate chain.

And till now, we have not had finality as far as fact is concerned. Whatever was agitated in the courts is not an appeal. It is a writ petition which has been filed saying that there has been a breach of the natural justice or there's been a sort of a violation of some procedural rule.

So this is what the courts have handled, not the substantive issues. Very little substantive issues have gone up. Of course, a few issues have gone up.

But basically, I think the tribunal is here to resolve a lot of disputes. Tribunal, I'm sure, will start working on day one and punch the cases by trying to punch the cases. They will be able to dispose of faster cases.

The advantage of the tribunal is that they can have larger benches to resolve issues which are conflicting. Different benches can give different conflicting issues, results and orders decisions. So there could be larger benches and they could resolve the issue nationally also.

One additional thing which has been brought about in this GST 2.0 is that the tribunals have also been made as the centralised appellate authority for the advance ruling. There was a system of advance ruling where people could go and GST, get the rulings in advance and understand what the procedure should be or what the rate should be. Now, that was being dealt with statewise and the appellate authority was also statewise with the result that there were conflicting decisions by the appellate authority and the advance authority in different states.

And there was no way the taxpayer who had a multi-state presence could resolve these issues. They had to go to court and not many were successful. Now, the tribunal has been entrusted to do this work, to act as a centralised authority to resolve all these issues and make sure that there is no conflicting decision.

If at all there's a conflicting decision between two authorities in different states, the tribunal, the principal bench of the tribunal will act as a dispute resolution solution and they will normalise things. So, I think dispute resolution is going to get a big boost once the tribunal effectively starts in a month or two.

OK, Krishan, let me come back to you. So, unfinished agenda?

Krishan Arora

Unfinished agenda, number one, I think we have not talked about services. So, there is, like I said, the first one being the addressing of the fact that the inverted duty structure or this impact of the input output tax difference, how will it get compensated? Is there a mechanism that government will come up with, the clarification which has to be issued on that?

I think one, two, and that will be across many sectors. I think very, very, very important to look at that agenda immediately and address it. Whether 22nd September time is enough for people to start activating the rate change and do all of those things.

Number three, nobody wants it to be coming back to them in terms of saying that, you know, I have not passed on the benefit. So, I think one is a trust based factor, which government has actually mentioned. But in substance, it should also be something which has to be looked at from the perspective that if the benefit is passed on, there's no technicality in that and something which is pending and customers can come back and start complaining that I've not been seeing any benefit which has been passed on.

What is that criteria which will make sure that, you know, this is addressed? Because anti-profiteering is something nobody wants to kind of restart in terms of at least this time, GST 2.0 is what government is saying. I think this is number three.

Number four, on the services side as well, I think I feel from a, you know, wherever you put in exemptions, obviously, the net impact has to be addressed by way of clarifying that input taxes will become a cost. Healthcare services, education services are today exempted. So, all the input taxes are a cost.

Today, when you add insurance sector to that of individuals, it will again be an exempted activity. Very good when you look at the face of it, because customers are very happy that, you know, 80% is gone, but all the input taxes are added to that, which might increase the cost of service. So, that's something, again, has to be addressed by saying or a statement to be made that there's an impact, which is net impact and it's not a pure 80% impact, which has to be passed on.

So, something to that extent would be comforting the industry that, you know, these changes wherever happened, there is a net impact which is there and we are trying to work it around and we should be given some time and if not 22nd September, there should be some leeway of some relaxation of time to be given to be able to address all of these things so that we are able to actually in substance and form pass on that ultimate value.

Mr. Ramesh, I'm going to come back to you for the last word, but Krishan, you know, the insurance one is important because there's been a lot of agitation around it. Now, how should people interpret this? So, let's say I was paying 100 rupees as premium.

So, my expectation now that I'll be now paying 100 minus 18, that's 82. But in effect, what you just pointed out is that cannot be the case because there is tax that is embedded in what the service provider is already incurring. So, what could be the realistic price now in your sense?

Krishan Arora

So, if you look at insurance companies, what is their input side? Their input side is all largely a combination of services because there's a lot of marketing spend, there's a lot of advertising spend, there's a lot of spend on you know, there's not much of capital goods or infrastructure, etc. So, that's not there.

But a huge amount of services cost, which is 18 percent, which is going to get blocked now. So, how much of that impact is going to add to the cost of that service to actually be exempted is something which they'll have to rework. And that's the challenge which is going to be there because there is no other mechanism to actually take that out.

And 18 percent services, the taxation is not going down in any way. So, that is going to remain constant. So, there is a net impact which will definitely be there to actually add to the price of the services.

So, rework the price, which means if there's a price rise and the customer sees it as a price rise and says that I was paying a premium of 100. Now, I should have been paying 82, but I'm still being charged 87 or 90. You know, what happened?

I did not get absolute benefit because they only understand what is on the paper, right? What is on the paper. But I think that's something which has to be looked at and appreciated.

So, you know, there is some level of that comfort which has to go to the industry as well and government, because there's no other mechanism to do it, right? It cannot be. And this has been an ask of the health care industry in the past also, make us zero rated.

And I don't think that concept is ever going to happen because zero rating of domestic supply of services was not a concept of the GST. That's not going to happen. So, if we have to live with this, then I think the government should also be able to tell that there is a net price impact which will be there. It's not going to be absolute.

So, we should be able to be ready with that understanding and people should accept it. I think that's something which has to be done.

Mr. Ramesh, you said that all of this is laying the foundation for the next generation of reforms. So, walk us through what that could be and what we should be looking out for now that we've announced this. We still have a few weeks to go as we figure out the implementation and the navigation. But what lies next?

S Ramesh

Yeah, absolutely. Good question, I think. A lot of things are still in the room to be done.

We have an opportunity, as Krishan said, to rework the rates on the services part of it, see where all the exemptions are there, what's happening, how the rate is structured. So, this is something, an area which needs to be looked at. Of course, the most important elephant in the room is, of course, the ITC, the input tax credit.

So, the blockage of credit which the industry is facing on several items, especially regarding services, construction services and so many other issues which they are facing. This is something which the government is aware that this is actually giving a sort of a difficult period for the businesses. So, I think ITC is a big area for reform.

And finally, I think we speak about revenue and how revenue will get a boost. But let's also understand that there are large sectors, almost 40 to 50 percent sector outside GST, which we have not touched so far. So, it's a big ask for the entire country to go there.

It's a long road ahead, but I think the ground has been set for that, the way consensus has been built in this GST Council. I'm sure at least in the next council, they'll start with, say, ATF and natural gas to be included into GST and then smaller steps for bringing the entire petroleum sector and, of course, the other sectors which are the reality sector. So, all these are going to broaden, broad-base the GST. And in GST, one thing we need to keep in mind is that the more you broad-base the GST, the tax can be brought down. So, even 18 percent tax can be probably India is such a large country with so much of services, so much of goods. So, we can look at rate rationalisation even later on if we are able to broad-base the goods and services and make sure that it is evenly done and there's no blockage of the credit at every stage as we see it now. So, I think the reforms will primarily depend on the ITC sort of being made much easier and also widening the broad-base of the entire tax regime.

And, of course, a lot of process reforms are still pending. They have done a few this time, a few little bit of changes have happened this time, but I think a lot of process reforms right from the return filing to the audit process. The audit process is also very cumbersome for a multi-India presence company.

Audit process is also very complicated. So, we need to bring to look at how assessment and audit is also streamlined in turn with global practises, in tune with global practises and make sure that India becomes one of the best jurisdictions as far as GST is concerned. So, I think a lot of things are still there in the pipeline.

Government is ready for it, but I think the consensus has to come there. So, it's a very, very good time to think of those steps also, I think, once we are done with the implementation of GST 2.0. Right.

And let me supplement that question. I mean, you were a part of the core team which rolled out GST in India. I mean, in 2017, along with the former finance minister and late finance minister, Arun Jaitley.

Eddie, what's the one instance that you remember from that time which maybe would tell us about the complexity of this whole process and what we are dealing with, even as we are trying to reform further?

S Ramesh

So, I think one constant has been there in the entire GST. I think Prime Minister used to tell us even before GST started that see the impact on the common man, see the impact on the persons on the ground. See the impact on the CPI basket. So, I think that's precisely what has been done all through and even now.

I think going forward, this has to be a good and simple tax, not only for the businesses, but also for the consumer. And it needs to be maintained that way. I think this is one important mantra which the Prime Minister laid at that time.

I think it's still ringing in my mind that we need to bring about a lot of things keeping the common man in mind. And this time, I think that has been the centrality of the entire GST 2.0 exercise.

Right. Mr. Ramesh, Krishan Arora, thank you so much for joining me and sharing your thoughts on The Core Report's Weekend Edition.

S Ramesh

Thank you. Thank you so much. Thanks for the opportunity.