Dr. Vinod Surana, Co-Chairman of ASSOCHAM, Southern Region and Partner & CEO of Surana & Surana, International Attorneys, in his inaugural address, at the interactive session, jointly hosted by Indo-French Chamber of Commerce and ASSOCHAM said that GST was expected to greatly enhance the ease of doing business in India. These developments were expected to greatly strengthen Indian industry. Today at the interactive session, this part of the series of programs which Assocham is conducting all over the country, to increase awareness on the GST and to sensitize all stake holders – be it the Mfrs., the wholesalers, the retailers, the service providers, the Central and Sate Govt. Agencies as well as the financial institutions, on the implementation or the practical aspects of GST. Just to give you a background, Assocham has been taking a very holistic view and approach in the past few years.
We have engaged with most of our 4.50 lakh members across the country, across every industry segment and of every size, to get comprehensive feedback, to get from each of these members practical suggestions that they think can be implemented to make GST easier. With this wealth of info, we have submitted several research reports, to the Central Gov.
The effectiveness of our submissions to the Central Govt. can be seen when you compare our submissions to the Central Govt. and the various clarifications the various frequently asked questions which have been released and you will see how much we have contributed. In fact, India is a knowledge chamber almost every week we are called upon by some central ministry or industry group, constituted by the Central Govt., for our inputs.
One of the findings of our research which we presented many months ago was that GST is not just exact issue. It is not just a Function to be dealt with by the CA or Cost Acct, it is the management issue. It is the management issue – because it will have an impact on Logistics, on Warehousing, on Supply Chain, on Working Capital, on Legal contract etc.
Our research findings long ago concluded that every aspect of an organization must integrate properly and efficiently to get maximum benefits for GST. Those organization which has trained their workface on the concepts the legislation and process of GST and have successfully created a GST awareness mind-set within the work force, will be the most suited to experience the greatest savings.
While Mr. M. Ponnuswamy, IRS (Retd) Chief Commissioner of Customs and Service, made the introductory speech on GST implications, Mr. Nishant Shah – Partner Economic Laws Practice, touched upon the subject on Focus on legal matters, Mr. B. Sriram, Partner – E & Y, elaborately discussed on the focus on finance, Mr. S. Rethinavelu, Sr. President – TamilNadu Chamber of Commerce & Industry, with his eloquent speech spoke on the Interest for industries outside of Chennai.
Mr. C P Rao, Chief Commissioner – Service Tax, and Mr. K. Prabhakharan, Practice Head – Surana & Surana International Attorneys, also participated in the discussions.
