Tamil Nadu to table GST Bill in assembly soon: Palaniswami

The Tamil Nadu government will soon place the state GST Bill in the assembly, said Chief Minister K.Palaniswami here on Sunday.

Addressing the Third Governing Council Meeting of Niti Aayog, he, terming the the passage of central GST law as historic reform in indirect taxes, also said the state has been taking an active part in the deliberations of the GST (Goods and Services Tax) Council so as to ensure that the rights of the states are protected.

"Tamil Nadu has been consistently raising its concerns about the impact of the proposed GST on the fiscal autonomy of states and the huge permanent revenue loss it is likely to cause to a manufacturing and net exporting state like Tamil Nadu," he added.

He said the central government is obligated to ensure transfers of resources from the Centre to the states are not affected while compensating the states for GST implementation, as any cut-back in the over-all transfer of funds would greatly impact states' development expenditure.

According to Palaniswami, the central government should work closely with the states in providing an enabling ecosystem for the growth strategies the states may have charted for themselves.

"The Government of India must not pursue a 'one size fits all' model, but instead allow states to plan and manage priorities falling under their jurisdiction," he said.

Noting the perspective, strategy and action documents of Niti Aayog should provide sufficient elbow room for states to develop their own long and medium range plans, he urged it to create sector wise strategic vision documents which would provide a longer term perspective of where the nation aspires to be in that particular sector.

Palaniswami pointed out that Tamil Nadu has provided its views with regard to the overall approach to the vision exercise, sector wise consultation has been limited only to some sectors.

With Tamil Nadu is dependent on inter-State rivers, in particular, the Cauvery for meeting its water needs both for irrigation and drinking water supply, he "strongly reiterated" the demand for the immediate establishment of the Cauvery Management Board and the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee for the implementation of the final order of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal.

"The long-term solution to ensure optimal and equitable sharing of the water resources in the country is the inter-linking of rivers," Palaniswami said.

--IANS

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