Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party have stepped up efforts to sway voters in West Bengal to try and win some of the 42 seats in the lower house of Parliament to offset losses elsewhere.
In late 2016, Modi's government unexpectedly withdrew all 500 and 1,000-rupee banknotes from circulation and issued new 500 and 2,000-rupee denomination notes. The aim was to tackle the country's massive shadow economy, Modi had argued. But the sudden move left scores of people with serious cash shortages and millions lined up outside banks for hours to exchange or deposit their old notes.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi , center, holds a canvas displaying a portrait of himself during his election rally in Chittorgarh, in the western state of Rajasthan, on April 21, 2019.Roy said lines outside banks in Kolkata stretched for several miles and that the city was hit harder than others like Mumbai and New Delhi, where digital payments were more prevalent. "In Kolkata, people use a lot of cash. They were not much into online or cards or banking," he said.
Just as the chaos of demonetization began to settle, India rolled out one of its most ambitious economic reform plans in 70 years to boost tax receipts and provide simplicity for businesses: the Goods and Services Tax. That levyLast month, local media reports said. Still, revenue collection in preceding months had been sluggish as businesses adjusted to the overhaul of India's tax infrastructure.
Sumit Sardar works for a local agriculture product manufacturing company called Divine Trap Industries, which makes fly traps to replace the use of pesticides in farming. Because of GST, he said, the business benefited. Sardar explained that the company pays an 18% tax on a specific chemical that is processed and converted into the final product that is sold. Under the previous tax infrastructure, that product was exempted from any value-added taxes.
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