Early roll-out of GST bill will be top priority, says Revenue Secretary

Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia on Tuesday said the early roll-out of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill will be his top priority.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's reform agenda suffered a major setback last month when lawmakers in the Rajya Sabha refused to support the bill.

Adhia said the government is serious about the early implementation of the bill.

"According to me, it is very important to review the status of GST readiness of the union government as well as the state governments.

Now, whenever the constitutional bill is passed, and whenever the GST Central Act is passed, we should be ready with the preparedness part of it. Now, that would be another top priority for us, I would like to go from state to state and also review the position of GST here, and see to it that all the states are at least ready for the purpose of implementation as and when the legislative work is done," he said.

The government is also planning to have an extended session of parliament to make another attempt to pass the major tax reform aimed at boosting economic growth after the monsoon session was a complete washout.