Telangana, Mizoram, Sikkim ratify GST bill
The GST bill needs the backing of at least 16 states before it can be sent for presidential assent
Hyderabad: Telangana and Mizoram on Tuesday became the 12th and 13th Indian states to ratify the goods and services tax (GST) bill, helping the Union government move closer to the planned rollout of the landmark levy.
Sikkim also ratified the GST bill on Tuesday.
The Telangana assembly and the legislative council both unanimously passed a resolution in favour of the 122nd constitution amendment bill.
Moving the resolution in the assembly, Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao said the state government welcomed the GST bill in the larger interests of the country.
Rao reassured members of the Congress, All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul Muslimeen and Communist Party of India (Marxist), who expressed concerns over potential revenue loss from GST, which the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government at the Centre wants to implement starting on 1 April next year.
Also Read: Maharashtra ratifies GST constitutional amendment bill
Rao noted that the GST bill has a provision under which the Centre would compensate states for any revenue loss arising from transition to GST, which will subsume a slew of local levies and dismantle inter-state barriers to trade in goods and services.
Rao said the state government earned ₹ 31,117 crore from value added tax (VAT) in 2015-16; only half that amount will be generated by GST.
“Besides, the state will be benefited by an additional revenue stream in the form of the proposed share of service tax," Rao said in Telugu.
Also Read: West Bengal blows hot and cold on GST
Rao said the service tax revenues in Telangana are growing at 35% per annum.
Telangana Rashtra Samiti, or TRS, the ruling party of Telangana, supported the passage of the GST bill in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.
The Mizoram assembly also ratified the GST constitutional amendment bill by adopting an official resolution moved by finance and taxation minister Lalsawta.
In a special sitting of the Sikkim assembly, the resolution on ratification of the GST bill was moved by R.B. Subba, law minister (legislative and parliamentary affairs) and passed by the house. Chief minister Pawan Kumar Chamling thanked the speaker and all the members of the Sikkim assembly for conducting the special session and for passing the resolution.
The GST Bill needs the backing of at least 16 states before it can be sent for presidential assent.
PTI contributed to this story.
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