British firms await GST regime to scale up investments

NEW DELHI: British businesses are awaiting the Goods and Services Tax regime to create a single market in India before they significantly scale up investments in the country.

UK India Business Council chief Patricia Hewitt said she was “absolutely certain” that the introduction of the GST regime would bring more foreign investments into India.

“Every Indian and British industrialist I speak to feels as strongly about the impact of creating a single market in India, just as it has in the European Union. It will accelerate growth and will directly boost jobs and development,” Hewitt said.

The head of UK-based shoe firm Pavers, for instance, said it is keen to invest a lot more into its India operations, currently spread across 45 cities, but the GST regime was a critical hold-up for the plan.

The proposed launch of the GST regime on April 1, 2016, however, is beginning to look difficult due to the political tug of war between the Congress and the Centre. Hewitt pointed out that while overall investments in India will surge once the GST is in place, thought it is not necessary that every state will attract the same level of interest.