New Delhi, Sept. 4 -- Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi for GST reforms, saying that this will "accelerate the pace of the economy."

"I thank the Prime Minister that under his guidance, the GST Council has unanimously implemented new GST reforms. I express gratitude on behalf of India's industry, its middle class, and the education sector, in particular. GST has been removed from many items, and GST on many items has been reduced to 5%. The expenditure of citizens on education will increase. The pace of the economy will accelerate," he told reporters on Thursday.

The 56th GST council meeting decided to rationalise GST rates to two slabs of 5 per cent and 18 per cent by merging the 12 per cent and 28 p...