GST: After 17 years of brainstorming, India wakes up to historic tax reform

'Tonight, we are rewriting the destiny of our country, PM Modi' said at the midnight launch event

The biggest tax reform in Independent India, the goods and services tax (GST), was finally rolled out at the midnight hour on Friday, with President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi pressing a button to mark the occasion in the historic central hall of Parliament.

Calling the GST “a good and simple tax”, Modi said the country was moving towards a modern taxation system, much simpler and more transparent than the existing one. “From Gandhinagar to Itanagar, from Leh to Lakshadweep, the dream of one nation, one tax will come true,” he added.