Next-Gen GST reforms will reduce compliance burden: FM Sitharaman

Chennai: On the eve of the GST council meeting, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said the planned roll out of the next-generation GST reforms will set the economy further open and transparent with further reduction in compliance burden especially for small businesses.

In her address at the 120th Foundation Day of the Kumbakonam-based City Union Bank (CUB) here, Sitharaman asked banks to not only expand credit but also provide momentum for infrastructure development, ensuring timely and need-based funding to MSMEs, and bringing the unbanked into the fold of formal banking, to achieve the vision of Viksit Bharat 2047.

“The guiding principles for this transformation must be trust, technology, and transparency,” she said. On GST, the Finance Minister recalled Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Independence Day address in which he announced the creation of a Task force for rolling out next generation reforms with a clear mandate to simplify regulations.

“Complimenting this, the planned role out of the next generation GST reforms with the council meeting tomorrow and day after in the coming months, will set an economy absolutely open and transparent with further reduction and compliance burden making it easier for small businesses to thrive,” Sitharaman added.

Her statement came a day before the two-day GST council meet begins on September 3.

On Non-performing assets, Sitharaman said the scheduled commercial banks have recorded massive improvement in their asset quality, with the gross NPAs declining to multi-decadal lows of 2.3 per cent (March 2025) and net NPAs reaching 0.5 per cent (March 2025).

“Soundness and resilience of India’s Scheduled Commercial Banks are supported by robust capital buffers, multi-decadal low non-performing loans and strong earnings,” she added.