Expect real estate, petro products to come under GST: Harsh Mariwala, Marico

Harsh Mariwala, Chairman, Marico, tells ET Now, that he was very optimistic that such a huge reform like GST has stabilised and is still evolving.

Edited excerpts:

What do you think about GST now that it has completed one year of implementation?

I would say that we had to start within a certain short period of time and there was lot of pressure for the government to launch GST and it was launched after lot of consensus building amongst all the stakeholders. In the last one year after it was launched, the government has been very proactive and responsive in terms of all the stakeholders and their demands and they have made many changes.

The changes are still coming in and so I would say that it is stabilised now. The revenues have also stabilised at a certain level and I hope that they will increase. I am sure it is a matter of time before they increase further.


I am very optimistic that such a very big reform has stabilised well and it is still evolving. The government is playing very important role in tackling all the stakeholder issues.

After another year passes, what changes can we expect and how is it going to be better?

The changes relating to refunds, to simplification of returns are definitely on the card. The e-way bill, some measures to reduce tax evasion bill have come in definitely but three-four things will definitely happen. I do not know whether the 12% and 18% slabs will et condensed into one slab at 15-16%. A lot of that will depend on the collections. We have to wait and watch and then the elections are coming in next year.

Because of these uncertainties, I am not able to predict that will happen within a year or so but it is a matter of time that the number of slabs get condensed and newer items get included in GST.

What new items can we expect…?

What is being talked about is real estate and the petroleum products. I cannot predict when that will happen. It may not happen in next one year but over a period of time, those items will become part of GST.

Any idea about the GST refunds coming in?

I think it will get tackled. I was told earlier by the finance secretary that it will be an automatic refund. That will be a great help to all the exporters and those who are claiming refunds.