Maharashtra Assembly ratifies GST Bill

Govt assures state will neither lose revenue nor its financial autonomy after shift to new tax regime

The Maharashtra State Assembly unanimously ratified the GST Constitution (122nd) Amendment Bill 2016 on Monday, in a move that makes the state the ninth to accept the bill. Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Nagaland and Delhi have already ratified the bill.

State Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar assured the house that the state will not lose a single rupee and will retain its financial autonomy after the shift to the GST regime. In his reply to a four-hour debate, Mungantiwar also said Maharashtra, which is a favoured investment destination and engine of growth, will further prosper and achieve a new high in its growth.

He also assured the house that he would make every possible effort to protect the interest of the state in the GST Council. Mungantiwar said he, along with the other finance ministers, will strongly pitch for making provisions in the proposed GST Bill for the payment of compensation for five years to all states. "This is necessary to remove uncertainty, especially when the implementation of 7th Pay Commission Report is expected to put additional burden on both the Centre and states."

He said the compensation should be fixed based on the state's current revenue. As far as the fate of the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is concerned after the Octroi Duty is subsumed in the GST, Mungantiwar said the government wants the Centre to consider Octroi Duty collection of the past five years and fix compensation based on the highest collection. He allayed fears raised especially by BJP's ruling partner, Shiv Sena, and by opposition parties, Congress and NCP, in this connection. His assurance assumes significancem given that the election to the 227 member BMC is slated for early 2017.

Mungantiwar also announced that the government has option to make a law as per Article 243X, to enable BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation and other civic bodies to get direct compensation.