India hopes to roll out goods and services tax in 2016: Modi

[BENGALURU] India hopes to roll out a new goods and services tax (GST) in 2016, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday in a speech to Indian and German businesses that played up the attractiveness of investing in Asia's third-largest economy.

The GST, currently blocked in parliament, was one of a range of business-friendly measures highlighted by Mr Modi in a speech in tech hub Bengaluru, in southern India, during a visit by German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Mr Modi also said his government was speeding up regulatory clearances, reducing licensing requirements in the defence sector and making tax policy more consistent. "We have articulated very clearly that we will not resort to retrospective taxation," Mr Modi said.

REUTERS