Bihar assembly passes GST Bill

The Bihar assembly on Monday in a special session unanimously passed the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill, 2017.

All the parties including the ruling Grand Alliance of Janata Dal-United, Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Congress and opposition Bharatiya Janata Party supported the passage of the Bill, state assembly Speaker Vijay Kumar Choudhary said.

It paves way for July 1 roll out of the GST, the single tax regime that will replace multiple state and central taxes to create one national market.

Senior Congress leader Sadanand Singh said the Bill was brought during the Congress led UPA government but the BJP delayed its passage in the parliament.

"GST will benefit people across the country," he said.

It was passed in the presence of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Deputy Chief Minister Tejaswi Yadav and Leader of Opposition Prem Kumar.

--IANS

ik/py/vm