Confident GST will pass in coming Parliament session: Gadkari

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has expressed confidence that the crucial GST bill will be passed in the coming Monsoon session of Parliament as he touted the various reform measures implemented by the government to boost economic growth and attract billions of dollars of foreign investment and technical expertise across sectors.

"GST is the most important issue and I am confident that in the coming session of the Parliament we will pass the bill as a lot of parties are supporting it," Gadkari said yesterday at a press conference organised at the Indian Consulate during the last day of his visit to the city.

The Minister for Roads and Highways said the Narendra Modi government has been taking various measures to implement economic reforms and to create an investor-friendly environment in the country.

Gadkari, who is on a week-long official visit to the US, said the government is focussed on economic and administrative reforms as well as fast-tracking the decision making process to boost economic development.

The procedures for getting environment and forest clearance for various infrastructure and development projects has also been fast-tracked, he added.

"The way the decision-making process is now moving, there will be no doubts in the minds of people including investors.

The country's image has changed and foreign investors are very much interested in investing in India," he said.

Gadkari had a series of interactions with a large number of investors at global financial giants JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs earlier yesterday.

He said the response of investors has been "very positive" and they showed keen interest to invest in India.

Arriving from Washington on Tuesday, Gadkari had toured the New York City and State Departments of Transportation and meet officials to understand the intelligent traffic system that uses information technology for improving traffic management and which he said he plans to implement in India's metro cities.

Later in the day, he participated in an industry interaction organised by the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce and the Business Council for International Understanding.