India minister urges passage of economic reform bill

India’s finance minister has called on opposition parties to assist in the passage of an economic reform bill.

“For the next decade we can have a full reform agenda on our table” if opposition sides cooperate in the approval of the bill, Arun Jaitley said in speech to top-level corporate audience in New Delhi on Saturday.

“The clear choice before us is – either we reform or we miss the bus once again,” Jaitley said.

The minister added that there was a need for “a shared national vision” to get India back to nine-to-10 percent annual growth levels it had until a few years back and lift hundreds of millions out of poverty.

India’s economic growth in the last fiscal year to March 2014 was 4.7 percent after falling to 4.5 percent the previous year.

Stormy scenes in parliament under the previous left-leaning Congress government hindered economic reform efforts.

The minister’s comments came a day after the government introduced in parliament tax reforms which analysts called a “game changer” that could reduce the cost of domestic business and reinforce growth.

The government introduced the long-awaited goods-and-services tax (GST) bill, harmonizing varying state levies to unify India’s internal market. The legislation will be discussed in the next session of parliament and the government intends to implement the new tax regime in April 2016.

In early November, Jaitley had warned foreign investors that there would be no quick fixes for the country’s economic woes, playing down the idea of one or two “big bang” changes.

Critics have accused the current right-wing government of lacking the determination to eliminate regulatory and bureaucratic obstacles to do business that would attract foreign investors.