NEW DELHI: Leading Indian industrialists begged feuding lawmakers in vain on Wednesday to put aside differences and approve a major tax shake-up aimed at creating one of the world’s largest single markets and driving economic growth

The chances of approving the Goods and Services Tax (GST) in the “monsoon” sitting of parliament looked very slim after opposition politicians yelled slogans and the speaker adjourned proceedings until Thursday, the last day of the session.

Supporters of GST say it will add up to 2 percentage points to economic growth by cutting red tape and making it easier to move goods and services around the world’s second-most populous country.

More than 20,000 people, led by dozens of top tycoons, have signed a petition urging politicians who have disrupted every day of the three-week session to approve the new tax.

“They should get together and pass this very beneficial reform for the country,” Adi Godrej, chairman of Godrej Group, told Network 18 on Wednesday.

“India could have five years of double digit GDP growth if the GST is in place.”

For years, Indian businesses have lobbied for the new sales tax which will subsume myriads of federal and state tax levies, replacing a chaotic structure that inflates costs.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on the back foot over popular opposition to his bid to make it easier to buy farmland for industry, made passing the less controversial GST bill his main objective in the session.