Bhubaneswar, June 9: Union revenue secretary Hashmukh Adhia today praised the state government for abolishing border check gates from April 1.

"It's a bold step on the part of the Odisha government. Other states should follow this," said Adhia at a Goods and Services Tax (GST) outreach programme organised by the central excise, customs and service tax department in association with the commercial tax organisation of the state.

"It will save a lot of time. According to a study, trucks spend 35 per cent of their idle time at the border check gates," he said. The Union secretary also lauded the constructive and positive role played by Odisha in rolling out GST in the country.

"It has promoted the cause of GST by participating actively in the process," he said. He also called on chief minister Naveen Patnaik at the state secretariat in the evening and thanked his government for its active support.

Earlier, at the GST outreach programme, Adhia said GST would boost export as exporters would be facilitated by grant of provisional refund of 90 per cent of their claims within seven days of the issue of acknowledgement of their applications. "Boost of Indian exports will improve the balance of payments position," he said.

Similarly, GST will give a major boost to the "Make in India" initiative of the Union government.

The government, by making goods or services in India, will be able to compete in national and international markets. Further, all imported goods would be charged with integrated GST, which would bring parity among local and imported goods, he said.

Numerous small traders will be benefited, as the threshold limit for registration under GST has been increased to Rs 20 lakh annual turnover, Adhia added.

State finance minister Sashi Bhusan Behera said: "The GST system seeks to put in place a simpler, technology-driven tax regime which facilitates ease of compliance for the trade and industry. At the same time, it will help augment revenue collection."

"The challenges before us are to ensure smooth transition to the new tax regime and reduce hassles in implementation and administration," Behera added.

State finance secretary T.K. Pandey said: "Our officers are always ready to address to problems faced by commercial tax payers, especially the trading community."