PM Modi congratulates people on passage of GST Bill in Lok Sabha

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday congratulated to people of India over passage of all four bills related to  GST in the Lok Sabha.  

The Prime Minister said,” it is a new year, new law and new India.”

The passage of bills is seen as a major step towards implementation of Tax reform in the country from July 1.

Earlier, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley allayed apprehensions about rise in prices of goods and commodities after the roll out of GST saying tax rates will be kept at near current levels to ensure that there is no inflationary impact.

Congratulations to countrymen on passage of GST Bill. New year, new law, new India: PM Narendra Modi #gstbill pic.twitter.com/Uon52VvIDK

— ANI (@ANI_news) March 29, 2017

Introducing four bills to give effect to the Goods and Services Tax, Jaitley said preparations to roll out the new tax regime is nearing completion and the process to classify categories of commodities will start next month.

The aim of the GST Council is to decide everything relating to the tax structure with consensus and this is for the first time that such an arrangement has been made, based on the principle of shared sovereignty of both the Centre and the state governments, he said.

“The GST council is India’s first federal institution where the sovereignty of the Centre and the states in relation to indirect taxes have been pulled in together in a federal institution.

Also Read: GST Bill gets Lok Sabha nod after 7-hour long debate in House | Who said what

“It is incumbent on all of us to make sure that this federal institution works. The delicate balance between what the Centre and states have unanimously agreed is almost a federal contract. Its is federal contract with constitutional sanction,” Jaitley said.