Internal discussions within Sena, NCP on GST ratification bill

Ruling alliance partner Shiv Sena and Opposition NCP are busy discussing with their respective legislators the GST ratification bill which will come up before the Maharashtra legislature on August 29.
A source in the NCP said the party's apprehension was that the new tax regime would fuel inflation in respect of certain goods and services.
The two Houses of the state legislature would meet for a special session on August 29 here and pass a one-line resolution with regard to the ratification of the Constitution Amendment Bill on Goods and Service Tax (GST).
Legislature sources said barring the reservations of Sena, all other political parties were on board for unanimous ratification of the bill.

Sena president Uddhav Thackeray had today convened a meeting of senior party ministers and group leaders in the legislature to decide the party's stand.
Sena has reservations in particular about the compensation to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) which would be losing Rs 7,500-crore octroi annually, largely from the the imported crude oil, after GST rolls out.

Maharashtra Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar had said that octroi compensation would be taken care of when the GST governing council frames the rules.
NCP would be holding a meeting of its legislators at the official residence of Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council Dhananjay Munde on August 28.

An NCP source said former Finance Ministers from the party Jayant Patil, Dilip Walse-Patil and Sunil Tatkare would brief the legislators.
Doubts still existed on whether the traders will pass on the tax concessions they would be getting due to the unified tax regime to the consumers, he said.
Passed by Parliament recently, the GST bill needs to be ratified by at least 15 state legislatures before the President can notify the GST Council which will decide the new tax rate and other issues.
The government has set April 1, 2017 as target date for rolling out GST, considered as the biggest tax reform in the country since Independence.