Assam & Bihar Done; Jharkhand, Gujarat, Haryana to Ratify GST Bill

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley urged Telangana Chief Minister Chandrasekhar Rao to also ratify the Bill.

(Photo: The Quint)

Jharkhand, Gujarat and Haryana to join the kist of states to have ratified the Constitution (122nd) Amendment Bill to allow the imposition of the Goods and Services Tax (GST).

Assam became the first state to have done so, followed by Bihar which became the first non-BJP state to have cleared the Bill, on Tuesday.

While Jharkhand Assembly has set 17 August, Gujarat Assembly has set 22 August as the date to clear the Amendment Bill.

Haryana Finance Minister Captain (retd.) Abhimanyu assured that the state will pass the Bill in the upcoming monsoon session which commences on 26 August.

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Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. (Photo: Reuters)

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has urged Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao to ensure expeditious ratification of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) bill by the state assembly.

In a letter to Rao, Jaitley suggested that if necessary a special session of the state assembly should be convened.

The Bill needs to be ratified by at least half the state assemblies in the country before it is sent to the President for approval.

The Lok Sabha had passed the Bill last year while the Rajya Sabha passed it, with negligible resistance, in the Monsoon Session.

Once the President gives his assent to the Amendment Bill, the GST Council will present the actual legislations for Central GST and Inter-state GST.

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The government is aiming for 1 April 2017 as the date of implementation for GST.

(With PTI and IANS inputs)