GST to be tabled in Rajya Sabha next week

With the Goods and Services Tax Bill likely to come up in the Rajya Sabha next week, the government on Thursday reached out to the Congress, and also held talks with the leaders of regional parties. Five hours have been allotted for the discussion on the bill in the Rajya Sabha, and the government is trying for a consensus with Opposition parties for the Constitution Amendment Bill to be passed by the Upper House.

Finance minister Arun Jaitely, accompanied by chief economic adviser Arvind Subramaniam, discussed the bill as approved by the Cabinet Wednesday with Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad and his deputy Anand Sharma. Former finance minister P. Chidambaram was also present. Mr Jaitely also met Left, Samajwadi Party and JD(U) leaders, while other NDA leaders were in touch with Tamil Nadu chief minister J. Jayalalithaa.

In a signal that the Congress could finally come on board to allow the GST Bill to be passed in the Rajya Sabha, Mr Sharma said the discussions between the Congress leaders and the government were “constructive and positive”. He noted that the government had made serious attempts for a consensus. It addressed the Congress’ demand to do away with the one per cent additional surcharge, but the key sticking point, for a cap on the tax rate, was yet to be addressed. The Congress appears to be going with the government in not insisting on the cap in the bill, but the strategy appears to be to “sweat out” the ruling NDA before allowing passage of the bill, sources said.

The government told the Opposition leaders it could talk to anybody, even during the weekend, to ensure there is a consensus among all political parties. The government has already addressed producing states’ concerns that losses for five years would be compensated. The Congress too now feels it shouldn’t stand in the way when all other Opposition parties are supporting the bill.