Getting the states on board was the final turning point, says Arun Jaitley on GST rollout

NEW DELHI: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today said the GST Council has been sensitive to the issues raised by states governments and some rationalisation of rates is likely. "There could be some tech glitches, but they are rectifiable. This is never a finishing line in economic planning," he said while speaking exclusively to ET Now. He added that the government is ready to correct any glitches in the GST system.

Here are the key takeaways of his interview:

* President Mukherjee had tried his best as FM to convince states on GST

* India will always have multiple rates

* Western countries have a single rate as they don't have a BPL population

* Many items in the 28% could come down to lower slabs

* Higher public spending by states and Centre will push up economic growth

* Inflation has been under control and it is moving in the right direction

* Will put in enough mechanism to ensure that there is no harassment

* Personally in favour of bringing real estate under the GST ambit

* Anti-profiteering clause will be used in rarest of the rare cases

* In J&K, GST has become a battle between consumers & separatists