As the Narendra Modi-led BJP-NDA government takes over the office for the second term, the eyes of Indians and all the leaders in the world will be on the decisions Modi takes in his first 100 days.
From security, unemployment, and economic issues to the problems of poor farmers, bank reforms and tax deduction, there are a whole lot of issues that the government needs to handle.
And to top it all, the government needs to cleverly handle the impact of a trade war led by Donald Trump without faltering its strategic partnership with the US. Thus, from the first day itself, the new Modi-led government will have tough challenges to face.
So what would be the new government’s priority issues for the first 100 days?
Clutch Of Proposals Government Need To Sort Out
Gearing up for a second term, Narendra Modi government will have a plethora of proposals to sort out in the coming 100 days. There are a lot of unfinished goals that the government is expected to fine-tune and complete.
And the prominent ones include polishing reforms like the IBC, reversing the decline in consumption, triggering private investments, fixing farm policies, and creating jobs.
According to sources, immediately after resuming the office, the Cabinet will think of introducing a proposal for amending the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) for bringing a “cross-border insolvency” framework.
It will allow the lenders to access foreign assets of a stressed firm. The insolvency regulator will also propose individual insolvency regulations for facilitating a debt relief to the poorest of the poor up to 35,000.
A few economists believe that the government may address the issues such as a cut in individual income tax for boosting consumption in the full Budget that is due at the start of July. Another 25 basis points rate cut is expected on June 6 from RBI to combat the slowdown in demand.
Government May Focus On BJP’s Manifesto
The government may also look into measures to simplify the structure of GST further and offering incentives to MSMEs so as to generate employment in its first 100 days function. There is a possibility of merging the present four main rates of GST tax slabs into two.
Analysts are of the opinion that the new government may also take up the things that are a part of BJP’s manifesto such as lowering the time required for complying tax formalities to 1 hour per month, achieving higher tax collection and better compliance.
The Executive Director at SKP Business Consulting, Jigar Doshi said, “If one reads the manifesto with the forthcoming changes to the GST compliance process, i.e. new return forms and e-invoicing facility, and interim Budget speech, the focus may be on better tax compliance through automation and ease of doing business.”
There is also a possibility that the government may discuss these things with industry stakeholders to simplify the GST structure. The Motilal Oswal Securities believe that the government will focus immediately to revive the rural consumption and address the debt and NBFC’s market liquidity stress in tandem with the RBI.
The government may do so with a near-term perspective to revive industrial growth.
