Faltering federalism: GST Council meeting failure is not a good sign

States don't issue their own currency, and are by definition a more fragile borrowing construct than the Union. The final solution must reflect this asymmetry

It is unfortunate that the meeting of the goods and services tax (GST) Council, which serves to bring together the stakeholders in the indirect tax regime from both the Union and the states, has ended without a consensus. The Council will meet again on October 12, but it is far from clear how a consensus will be obtained if both sides remain determined on their course. The bitterness was evident from Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s statement after the meeting that some of the participants at the meeting “gently reminded” her that she should not take anybody for granted —