2-3 legacy tax cases to be put to sleep in couple of months: Arun Jaitley

SINGAPORE: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley tonight said only about 2-3 legacy tax issues are left which he hoped will be "put to sleep" over the next couple of months.

"The entire emphasis on the taxation system in India is now completely changed. The government announced that it won't have a retrospective tax system, we have lived up to our word. There were several legacy issues which we had from a very aggressive taxation attitude, one by one we have been putting each one of them to sleep.

"Some we are rectifying them through the judicial process, some by executive decision of the government. Only about 2-3 issues are left. Over the next couple of months, I am reasonably certain that they will be also resolved out," Jaitley said at The Singapore Summit 2015 here.

Asserting that 6-8 per cent GDP growth rate is not enough, he said India is keen to push it to 10 per cent on back of continued reforms.

The Minister, who is here on a two-day visit to woo investors, expressed the hope that India's growth rate in the current fiscal would be better than last year and the country would "stand out as a brighter spot" in the world economy.

The Minister said "certain amount of restlessness (about growth) is a good sign ... None of us were happy that we were only growing by 7 per cent (in first quarter). If that's the measures of aspirational India, the pressure on government is quite a legitimate thing".

Observing 6-8 per cent growth is not enough, he said the government is taking steps to push it to 8-10 per cent.

"Government has moved fairly rapidly. The government's direction is absolutely clear but for people to keep putting pressure on us to move even more rapidly I think is a legitimate answer," Jaitley added.