Chhattisgarh joins other states to ratify GST

Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly on Monday unanimously ratified the Constitution Amendment Bill on Goods and Services Tax (GST) that was passed by the Parliament this month. 

The resolution was tabled by the state’s commercial tax minister, Amar Agrawal in the special session of the Chhattisgarh Assembly convened today. This was the first occasion when a special session of the state legislative assembly was convened in the 16-year-old state.

Chhattisgarh would be probably the fourth state after Assam, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh and Jharkhand to ratify the GST Bill, described as India's biggest tax reform. The Bill requires consent of at least 15 state legislatures before the President could notify the GST Council, which would eventually decide the new tax rate and other issues.  

The Central Government has set a deadline of April 2017 for its rollout.

Chief Minister Raman Singh said the GST would be a big leap forward to empower the states. “Without the consent of the states, it would not be possible to impose the tax or change the structure,” Singh said, adding that the GST would help in checking the leakages in the taxation system.

Asserting that Chhattisgarh would be incurring a heavy loss of Rs 1800 crore according to the preliminary reports, leader of opposition T S Singhdeo said the new system would not be in the interest of middle class people. The state’s right to impose taxes would be restricted while it would not be in a possible to exempt any tax following local demand, he added.

The Chief Minister clarified that the initially the states would have to bear the revenue loss that the Centre would be compensating for five years. “After five years, the state’s economy would be strengthened enough that would help the states in growth,” Singh added.