Goyal lauds GST in Davos

Union Minister of Railways and Coal Piyush Goyal ahead of the first day of the World Economic Forum (WEF), hailed the Goods and Services Tax (GST) initiative by the Modi-led government and said that India is the first country to successfully embark on a tax reform of this scale.

"Most people in India are quite excited about the GST story. They are seeing the benefits of simpler taxation. The GST council has continuously evolved into a simpler system, and to my mind, the way things are panning out, probably India would be the world's largest country to have embarked on such a successful tax reform of this scale and magnitude," Goyal exclusively told ANI in Davos.

NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant also praised the GST initiative by the Government and said that India has maintained growth, along with structural reforms.

"We maintained our growth along with structural reforms. We worked for financial inclusion, along with financial growth," Kant told ANI.

"These kind of structural reforms like GST, the digital push, the fact that we are one country with a billion biometric, a billion bank accounts; no other country has it. These are things which need to be told," he added.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the plenary session of the World Economic Forum on Tuesday.

He is the first Indian Prime Minister to attend the summit in more than two decades.