The past few decades have been extremely difficult for maintaining a balance between growth, globalization, governance, and environmental sustainability. The world’s GDP has increased, leading to economic growth, poverty alleviation, increased food security and improved health standards on one hand however, on the other hand this economic expansion and business growth has come at a heavy price to the planet. The diminishing natural resources, climatic changes and many more unprecedented changes are major hurdles for sustainable growth.

Dealing with these challenges are the top priority of every country, society and business units for sustainable growth. Green management practices are essential for the survival of business firms and societal organizations which should have deeper understanding and action plan in place for the upcoming challenges and opportunities generated through these practices. These strategies should be implemented immediately in a sustainable manner for achieving growth, good governance and positive global impact which may lead to a balance between need and greed of the hour.

The introduction of Goods and Services Tax (GST) is a very significant step in the field of indirect tax reforms in India. By amalgamating a large number of Central and State taxes into a single tax, it would mitigate cascading or double taxation in a major way and pave the way for a common national market. From the consumer point of view, the biggest advantage would be in terms of a reduction in the overall tax burden on goods, which is currently estimated to be around 25-30%. Introduction of GST would also make Indian products competitive in the domestic and international markets. Last but not the least, this tax, because of its transparent and self-policing character, would be easier to administer.

All the pre-existing 4G’s (Green, Growth, Globalization and Governance) have to be explored further with the lens of the 5th G: GST.