Five years of GST: Chidambaram to Sitharaman, the people behind the reform

The benefits of GST will positively ensure it to be 'Good and Simple Tax' for citizens of India, says Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the eve of the GST launch

P Chidambaram

The former finance minister had in 2006 proposed April 2010 as the deadline for implementing GST. He also released a white paper on state-level value-added tax

Vijay Kelkar

Former finance secretary Kelkar is widely credited with being the architect of GST. In 2009, a task force he headed had suggested a comprehensive, nationwide GST to deal with the complex indirect tax structure. The task force, constituted by the 13th Finance Commission, had recommended that all goods and services should be taxed at a single rate of 12%, split as 5% for central GST and 7% for state GST

Asim Dasgupta

The former West Bengal finance minister was the first chairman of the Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers. He shaped many of the early discussions on GST

Pranab Mukherjee | Photo: PTI

Pranab Mukherjee 

As finance minister, he saw the original deadline being missed and set a new deadline of April 2011. As President, he signed GST into law

Arun Jaitley

Starting with the first GST Council meeting in September 2016, Jaitley is credited with bringing competing interests and divergent views of states and political parties together to make GST a reality. To some, he seemed to have compromised too much as what was originally envisaged as a three-slab structure still has five slabs

Hasmukh Adhia

The former finance secretary led the bureaucratic efforts during the early years of GST. During his tenure, many important initiatives were taken like the National Anti-Profiteering Authority, a series of rate rationalisations, e-way bills, and streamlining of filing returns

Arvind Subramanian

The former chief economic advisor led a panel that recommended a three-rate structure, with a revenue neutral rate of 15%, and a standard rate of 17% or 18%

Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman | Photo: Bloomberg

Nirmala Sitharaman

The Union Finance Minister has led the GST Council during some of the toughest times for the economy after the Covid-19 outbreak. She has also had to deal with some setbacks in the GST’s federal structure, primarily on the issue of compensation cess 

Sushil Modi

The former Bihar finance minister was closely linked with GST even before it came into being. He led a number of Group of Ministers panels. In 2020, he broke ranks and was the first BJP finance minister to state that the Centre was morally bound to pay states for GST revenue shortfall