<div>The Union government on Thursday defended its approach to reforms, days after it succumbed to political pressure in parliament and delayed the passage of key land and tax reforms, a move that has tarnished Prime Minister Narendra Modi's first year in office.</div><div> </div><div>Investors had hoped that Modi's biggest majority in the Lok Sabha in 30 years would speed up economic reforms, but that assumption took a hit when he sent the proposed legislation to two different parliamentary panels for a review.</div><div> </div><div>While the move has delayed the measures until at least July, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Thursday it was the fastest route to get parliament's approval.</div><div> </div><div>"I do believe that the road map that we have now developed of sending it to the joint committee is probably the fastest route to get the land bill approved," he said.</div><div> </div><div>The opposition Congress party, defeated by Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in a general election last May, has fought back against the land bill that seeks to make it easier for businesses to buy land, calling it "anti-farmer".</div><div> </div><div>The ruling BJP is dependent on Congress and other parties in the Rajya Sabha to pass the measure.</div><div> </div><div>The delay has also cast doubts on Jaitley's ability to meet his April 2016 launch deadline for the new goods and services tax (GST) that would harmonise a mosaic of state and central levies into a national sales tax.</div><div> </div><div>The GST bill, after its passage in parliament, also requires the approval of more than a half of India's 29 states.</div><div> </div><div>Jaitley said the government would have to work overtime to meet the launch deadline.</div><div> </div><div>"I am still hopeful, in fact very hopeful, that we will be able to achieve this," he said.</div><div> </div><div>Jaitley calls the GST the biggest tax reform since Independence in 1947, which could add as much as 2 percentage points to its economic growth.</div><div> </div><div>(Reuters)</div>
