Page 29 - Abhivruddhi

The imposition of multiple taxes on the same commodity and the
imposition of another tax on the same tax was causing the prices of
commodities to skyrocket. There was a differential pricing of goods
and services from state to state. Therefore, the Modi government took
a very bold decision to combine these different taxes and implement
a single tax system for the whole country. The benefits of this decision
are now apparent. Even though all industries were shut down due to the
lockdown during the Corona pandemic, the tax collection from GST was
largely suspended and now as the pandemic era ends, the pace of GST
tax collection has increased one, a half times more than before. This has
greatly contributed to the economy of the Central and State Governments.
The biggest advantage of the GST tax system is that a very large section
of the society, which has not been included in the tax system till date, has
been added to the GST tax system, thus broadening the foundation of the
country’s economy. (Ref Reviews of Economic times)

The need for an integrated development plan

The economic development of a country is related to the development
of all other sectors. The development of the agricultural sector requires
advanced technologies in agriculture, planning to meet the needs of
farmers at that time, adequate storage and transportation of agricultural
commodities, as well as national water distribution planning. While some
areas of the country have abundant water availability, a very large area of
the country is deprived of water required for agriculture. The National
Water Supply Scheme will properly irrigate all the lands in the country
and even where water is available, schemes like drip irrigation can be
planned to maximize production with less water. At the same time, there
is a need to make arrangements for marketing of the farm produce so that
farmers can get maximum income by making the bulk of the agricultural
produce available for export. This will encourage farmers to increase
production.
The central government’s plan to blend ethanol in petrol and diesel is
also likely to boost the economy. Today, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh
produce large quantities of sugarcane. It is likely to produce a large amount
of alcohol. In addition, the remains of harvest of various crops like wheat,
sorghum, maize, rice and others can be easily converted into alcohol. This
will be of great benefit both in terms of natural cleanliness and avoidance
of environmental damage. Especially in Punjab, when paddy is cultivated,

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