FM keeps fingers crossed over bringing in GST from April 2010

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today kept his fingers crossed over introducing goods and services tax (GST) from April 2010.

"We are trying (to bring in GST) let us see," Mukherjee told reporters when asked when GST would be implemented.

Inaugurating a meeting of finance secretaries and finance commissions of states, the minister said he will conduct a meeting with state finance ministers over GST in early November.

He said Chairman of the Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers Asim Dasgupta holds interaction with state finance ministers over the issue of GST.

GST is scheduled to be introduced from April 1, 2010 but some states like Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh are demanding that implementation of GST should be delayed. 

The proposed indirect tax regime would replace most of the indirect tax levied by the Centre like excise and service tax and subsume state-levied taxes like VAT and local taxes like octroi and purchase tax. 

When asked whether states have demanded power to borrow more from the market, Mukherjee said they have already been given power to garner money from the market even if their fiscal deficits are stretched by an additional 0.5 per cent of their states' GDP.