Bihar became the first non-NDA state and overall second after the BJP-ruled Assam to pass GST bill.
By doing away with the 1 per cent inter-state tax over and above the GST rate, the government has met one of the three key demands over which Opposition Congress has been blocking the Bill in the Upper House
Consumer products like mobile phones and laptops may become cheaper as the overall taxes on goods are likely to come down
The GST bill was earlier planned to be introduced from April 1.
The finance minister is "reasonably confident" that when it comes to the crunch, "it would be extremely difficult even for the Congress party to take a contrarian view" on the GST Bill.
Offering an olive branch to the Opposition to get the GST bill passed, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is willing to speak to everyone to get the landmark indirect tax law through.
Modi must focus on other state-level reforms, such as those in labour laws, leasing of land and agriculture
On the macroeconomic data front, PMI data on manufacturing and services sector will also influence trading
Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra expressed confidence in GST.
Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Gulam Nabi Azad approached leader of the house Arun Jaitley, saying that he is accompanying Sonia Gandhi to Varanasi on Tuesday.
The Centre is likely to introduce the Central GST and integrated GST bills in late November or early December in the ongoing session in the form of money Bills.
Senior leaders within the Congress now say the party could accommodate the government's argument that the GST rate cannot be stipulated within the Constitution.
The Union minister said it is "not fair" on Congress's part to set conditions for the passage of the GST bill and if the said clauses were so crucial, the UPA could have brought these in the original bill when it was in power.
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The GST will subsume most of the indirect taxes like excise duty and service tax
Singling out the Congress as the only opponent to the GST, the government hopes to pass the bill after the altered numbers in the Upper House, reports Archis Mohan.
Jaitley promised the states that they would be fully compensated for any loss of revenue arising from implementation of GST.
On Thursday, the Business Advisory Committee of the Lok Sabha, which allocates time for the Bills and discussions to be taken up for the forthcoming week, met, but the government strategists didn't ask the members to allocate time for the GST Bills for the next week.
Revised draft model Bill clearly says an agriculturist for the purpose of agriculture won't be liable for registration under GST.
The government banks on the support of the Bharatiya Janata Party to push the Insurance and LIC Bills in the next Parliament session, but it seems to have adopted different tactics on the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill.
The GST will replace more than a dozen levies central and state levies, including central excise duty, service tax and central sales tax as well as VAT on sale of goods and entry tax, to make movement of goods seamless across 1.3 billion market.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday drove over to Rahul Gandhi's 12 Tughlak Lane bungalow to personally invite the Congress vice-president to his daughter Sonali's wedding.
The Bill has already been passed by the Lok Sabha.
Reaching out to the opposition, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday sought its cooperation in the passage of GST bill even as it asserted that government will be targeted over developments in Arunachal Pradesh and Kashmir during Parliament's Monsoon Session starting on Monday.
The Rajya Sabha on Wednesday took up the four bills related to the GST, with the Opposition urging the government to insulate taxpayers from harassment and questioning how the new regime was "ideal" when 40 per cent of the revenue base of the GDP was kept out of its purview.
Following passage of the Constitution Bill, 2014, Dass and Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who introduced it in the House, exchanged sweets.
The Prime Minister also underscored the importance of public sector undertakings in the country.
While the government has the option of ensuring the passage of these Bills as money Bills, there are voices within the government advising discretion on the GST roll-out by April 1.
The government said it was willing to advance the upcoming Parliament session.
Ghulam Nabi Azad and Anand Sharma succeed in convincing Rahul Gandhi of zero returns in blocking Parliament.
The finance minister said the government was open to suggestions.
Drabu said the GST regime will roll out in the state at midnight on Friday, making Jammu and Kashmir the last state to join the new tax regime.
The USIBC has encouraged a streamlined implementation of the GST.
The government has proposed to implement GST from April 1, 2016, and the new Finance Commission may be set up ahead of its schedule to look into the issues related to the new indirect tax regime.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley appealed to parties to rise above partisan considerations to support it.
Despite being cleared in the lower house, the GST bill has been pending in the Rajya Sabha for clearance, where the Congress enjoys numerical strength, reports Kavita Chowdhury.
The bill was taken up for consideration in the Lok Sabha after the Speaker rejected Opposition demands to refer the key reform measure to a parliamentary Standing Committee.
Gandhi added that the nation's power has always come from the strength of ideas.
The Goods and Services Tax Bill was passed by the Lok Sabha in May.
"We are willing to speak to any of their leaders," Jaitley was quoted as saying by Bloomberg News.
The government is hopeful of passage of the GST bill in the winter session of parliament claiming 30 of the 32 parties have supported it.
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