As the deadline for roll out of GST is April 1, 2017, the government is working overtime in removing all hurdles. The Centre is now mulling advancing the date of the Winter Session of Parliament. Usually the Winter Session starts in the third week of November but sources say that the government is looking at advancing the date to the first fortnight of November. This could be after all the festivals come to an end at the end October and early November.
The GST Bill was passed by Parliament in the recently concluded Monsoon Session of Parliament. As it was a constitutional amendment, it required ratification by 50 per cent of the states. After the Monsoon Session of Parliament, 50 per cent of the states have ratified this constitutional amendment.
The government has already drafted the two bills which are required for the roll out of GST. These are Integrated GST Bill (IGST) and the Central GST Bill (CGST). After these two bills are passed by the Parliament, the finance ministry will get ample time for implementation of GST. Parliamentary affairs minister Ananth Kumar is working overtime to achieve this.
If the government wants to advance the date of the Winter Session, it will have to take key stakeholders on board for this. These being the principal Opposition parties. The GST constitutional amendment bill was also passed during the end of the Monsoon Session. The Congress had serious reservations about the government converting this into a money bill so that it comes through the lower house where the government has a brute majority.
The government is keen that the roll out should happen from the next financial year. Hence it is eager that all edges are smoothened and easy, also an early passage of IGST and CGST is done.
