Assocham, Videocon gear up for GST, launch awareness drive for consumer electronic traders

The daylong Assocham Videocon GST Summit for traders witnessed deep discussions around GST, addressing retailers’ queries, and offering them a clearer understanding of the GST concept.

The seminar was inaugurated by the Chief Guest  Arjun Ram Meghwal,  Minister of State for Finance, Ministry of Finance. The Seminar was also addressed by R. N Dhoot, Member of Parliament.

Being the most pro-active Chamber of Commerce, Assocham has taken a step towards imparting knowledge on immediate as well as far reaching impact of GST on the businesses through the Assocham Videocon GST Summit.

Emerging as the fountainhead of Knowledge for Indian industry, ASssocham has always worked towards creating a conducive environment for India business to compete globally.

In its next meeting on June 3, the goods and services tax (GST) Council will fix rates for certain items that could not be decided upon at its meeting in Srinagar, Union Minister of State for Finance, Mr Arjun Ram Meghwal.

“We have also received representations from some sectors including textile for which the rates had been fixed, we will discuss it in the next GST Council meeting,” said Mr Meghwal.

“In textile sector, garment manufacturers and cloth manufacturers want different rates, we will discuss these issues on June 3,” he said.

He also said that FinMin has advised the trade and industry bodies along with its three technical institutes viz., Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) and Institute of Cost Accountants of India (ICAI) to organise awareness campaigns as GST is likely to be rolled out from July 1.

He said that so far whatever decisions have been taken by the GST Council are not based on majority but on the basis of consensus among all state finance ministers.

The Union Minister said that GST will help bring down logistics cost and that would perhaps be the biggest benefit of this game-changing reform.

“Recently an international conference on logistics charges was organised by Union Minister Nitin Gadkari whereby we observed that logistics charges in developed countries like Canada,  US, France, Germany and others is a meagre eight per cent whereas in India it is about 13.5 per cent,” said Meghwal.

“We include transportation and warehouse charges in logistics charges, GST will bring down logistics costs massively and bring us at par with the developed nations,” he added.

“We live in WTO-era, when there is such a difference in costs for the same product it does not provide India a level playing field as such implementation of GST is a must,” further said Mr Meghwal.

Highlighting certain other possible benefits of GST, the Union Minister said that GST would undoubtedly lead to ease of doing business, besides it will also simplify filling returns, widen tax net, reduce human interface and curb corruption.

“For years together we have lived as a society which believed in tax evasion but now we have to be prepared for this slight change and help India rise up to paying taxes,” he said.

He also said that 2017 will be remembered as a year of unprecedented economic reforms.

On the low GDP (gross domestic product) numbers in the quarter to March, to 6.1 percent, Meghwal termed it a ‘temporary phase,’ and said that there is no need to fear as the country’s economy is growing rapidly.

Speaking about the initiative, R.N Dhoot, Member of Parliament said, “Announcement of GST in the country has been a revolutionary step. Not only will it lead to lower tax burden on several commodities, but will also bring ease of doing businesses in the country. I congratulate ASSOCHAM and Videocon to take this initiative and address retailer queries related to implementation of GST.”

Commenting on the occasion Sandeep Jajodia, President ASSOCHAM, said, “It’s a nationwide observation that in general, the trade (mostly MSMEs) are not in line with knowledge with GST. Therefore, ASSOCHAM & Videocon have embarked upon the process of training and awareness of GST in a big way, which will be of paramount importance in the smooth roll-out of GST. As the contours of GST law are more or less known, the purpose of such programs is to sensitize the trade across India to make them aware of the salient features of GST.”

Videocon has been delighting customers and trade partners with its wide array of quality product offerings for over 3 decades. Being a responsible corporate, Videocon is committed to serve the industry and all its stakeholders passionately. Understanding the industry ambiguities with regards to GST, Videocon organized the GST summit with ASSOCHAM to ensure that all members of the industry move positively at a pace which is in line with the nationwide rollout of India’s greatest tax reforms.

Speaking about the initiative, C. M Singh, COO Videocon, said, “We are extremely happy to launch ASSOCHAM Videocon GST Summit which aims to bring the entire industry together on one platform. As the GST date inches closer, Videocon hopes to equip all its partners and make them GST ready. We plan to hold more than 200 of such seminars to raise GST awareness across the country. Videocon has always taken initiatives to ensure industry growth and welfare. Through these GST Summits, Videocon will try to ensure that all queries of consumer electronic traders with regards to GST implementation are resolved and they are GST ready. Videocon is happy to contribute in its small way in the smooth implementation of GST.”

The ASSOCHAM Videocon GST Summit provided a freewheeling dialogue between experts from Videocon and ASSOCHAM, and Consumer Electronic retailers on GST. The session imparted knowledge on the fundamentals of GST and educated the retailers on the impact of GST on the consumer durables. With the inaugural event in New Delhi, the ASSOCHAM Videocon summit will go to 200 cities ahead of its nationwide rollout on July 1. The takeaways from the Delhi event will be utilized in other cities towards familiarizing the industry players on GST.