Base Rate System : A change for the real ?

(My heartfelt thanks to Mr. G. C. Nath, Senior V.P., CCIL for his invaluable insights on this topic)

There hardly is an adult nowadays who hasn't felt the need or has gone ahead to avail a loan. You can blame it on the increasing consumerism or the inflationary forces. Anyways, I am not going to discuss the rate of inflation or conspicuous consumption rather I will focus on the rate of interest on these loans. These rates were affected by a major change that took place on the 1st of July, 2010. This happening was; "coming into effect of Base Rate System".This blog is on Base Rate System and its likely impacts. 

Is the Government ready to roll out the GST?

(This article was published in the 7th Dec, 2009 edition of the Financial Express. The Link for the same can be found here.)

Reaching a consensus between the Centre and states on the issue is the biggest stumbling block

The goods & services tax (GST) is part of the proposed tax reforms aimed at evolving an efficient and harmonised consumption tax system in the country. Presently, there are parallel systems of indirect taxation at the central and state levels. The world over, goods & services attract the tax. But what is the key to the introduction of GST? The first step is to progressively harmonise the service tax rate and the Cenvat rate. The central government plans to roll out GST by April 2010. Therefore, the question is, are we ready to do it?