National Conference on Second Generation GST Reforms Begins

A two-day national conference on Second Generation Goods and Services Tax Reforms in India: Implications for Public Finance and Fiscal Policy, organized by the Gulati Institute of Finance and Taxation in collaboration with the Indian Council of Social Science Research, began here on Monday.

R. Kavitha Rao, Director, National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, delivered the keynote address at the inaugural technical session, noting that GST 2.0 sees a reduction in the effective tax rate from 11.6% to 9.5%. It pointed out that the GST-GDP ratio has come down to 5.96% in 2025-26 from 6.07% in 2022-23.

The session was chaired by Arvind Modi, former IRS official and senior IMF economist.

The first plenary session on GST Performance, Fiscal Federalism and Revenue Productivity under GST 1.0-2.0 featured Sacchidhananda Mukherjee of NIPFP, R. Mohan, former Commissioner of Income Tax and Sebastian Morris, Professor, Goa Institute of Management as keynote speakers.

Arvind Modi of the IMF and D. Narayana, Senior Economic Adviser to the Deputy Chairman of the State Planning Board and Honorary Member of GIFT, spoke on the ‘Dialogue among Senior Tax Administrators’.

Various meetings were attended by senior economists, Mridul Eapen, Mary George, teachers and students from various colleges and researchers.

The conference on Monday featured two technical sessions that discussed GST revenue and industry variation, GST and public finances: comparative and sub-national evidence; Fiscal Federalism and the Design of GST 2.0: Institutional and Comparative Perspectives.

Rate rationalization, pricing and distribution outcomes, conduct and enforcement of compliance and SMEs, digital governance and institutional capacity were also discussed.

More than 25 research papers on various aspects of GST were presented in these technical sessions.

The National Conference will be formally inaugurated on Tuesday by Chief Minister VD Satheesan, who is also the Finance Minister and Chairman of GIFT.

Mr Satheesan will launch GIFT’s new publication, ‘Economy and Fiscal Watch’ (EFW) at the inaugural event.

Published – 07 Sep 2026 21:35 IST