One nation, one tax: why the next phase of GST reform must restore the federal compact

States gave up agency over local taxes to help India achieve a single national tax, but the end of the GST compensation guarantee has left many of them fiscally vulnerable. The country must forge another grand Centre-state bargain to ease state anxieties over…

The promise was politically elegant. The arithmetic less so. Cess collections fell behind the guarantee even before the pandemic and covid widened the gap dramatically. The Centre eventually borrowed…

Originally published by Livemint. Read the full article →