GST Bill likely in Lok Sabha today

“The government will move the bill tomorrow and try to get it passed by Monday,” a highly-placed source said. The BJP is likely to issue a whip to its members asking them to be present at the time of passage of the Constitution Amendment Bill, that requires two-third majority. The government proposes to roll out the GST, a new indirect tax regime which will subsume various levies including sales tax, excise, service tax, from April 1, 2016. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday held discussions with state finance ministers on the roadmap for rolling out the GST, where most states, barring Tamil Nadu, gave their assent on its provisions.

Once the Constitution Amendment bill is approved by Parliament by two-third majority, it will have to be ratified by half of the states.

The Bill on GST was introduced in the Lok Sabha in December last. Jaitley had earlier said that implementation of the landmark GST regime would increase the GDP by 1-2 per cent. The Centre has been working towards addressing concerns of all states for rolling out the GST on the scheduled date. 

Certain states have argued that the implementation of GST would be beneficial for consuming states, 

while for their manufacturing counterparts like Maharashtra and Gujarat it could be a challenge. The Centre and the states have been working on a new Revenue Neutral Rate, which is currently pegged at 27 per cent. RNR is the one at which there will be no revenue loss to the states after GST implementation.