Lucknow, Sept. 6 -- Uttar Pradesh minister for finance Suresh Khanna on Friday said simplification of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) structure into two main slabs of 5% and 18% - the biggest indirect tax overhaul since 2017 - may give an initial jolt but it would eventually benefit the state's economy. "Yes, we may get an initial jolt. It will eventually lead to an increase in tax volumes and benefit the state's economy. Past experiences show that lowering the tax rate gives a boost to demand in the market and strengthens the economy," Khanna said while speaking to media persons at his office at Vidhan Bhavan here. Stressing that the GST structure changes would not have any adverse impact on the state's budget, he said the objective of making the state a trillion dollar economy would be achieved as per the time schedule. Khanna also said the rate of tax was higher only for luxury goods like premium cars and sin goods like cigarettes and tobacco. Low GST rates will lead to more collections, he said. "...low tax rate encourages people to pay tax. The GST rate cut will create more demand and the wheels of machines will turn faster to meet the rising demand. This will create more jobs and strengthen the economy further," he said. Asked how the state government proposes to ensure that the benefits of GST rate cut are passed on to the common man when the GST council's decision is implemented from September 22, he said the companies would have to transfer the benefits to the people. He said a mechanism is already in place to ensure this. The state government would keep a watch on the scenario, he said. "We (state government) are not here to earn money. Our objective is to ensure that the people are benefited," Khanna said. Replying to a question about the Congress's attacks on the Union government on GST-related issues, he said the GST council's decision was unanimous and even Congress-ruled Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka supported the move. Asserting that the UP economy was strong, he said the state government was spending Rs 53,000 crore per annum on payment of interest and this amount is likely to go up to Rs 60,000 crore this year. He said the state government did not intend to resort to additional borrowings and would make use of the Union government's 50-year interest free loan to spur infrastructure development. The state government got Rs 17,000 crore under the scheme last year and may get more from the Centre, he said. Welfare of the people was the top priority for the state government and it was prepared to meet any eventuality, he said. "We have maintained financial discipline. We have never crossed the permissible limit as per the provisions of Fiscal Responsibilities and Budget Management (FRBM) Act." He also said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has carried out various reforms, including exemptions in the income tax, and an increase in the state's divisive pool. Without caring for the financial burden, the state government gave stamp duty rebate on partition documents, transferring property to family members and registration of property in the name of women, he said....