GST Bill: Jaitley reaches out to parties

To ensure smooth passage of GST Bill in Parliament,Finance Minister Arun Jaitely met leaders of various political parties. Union Cabinet, on Wednesday, approved key amendments in GST Bill; dropped one percent additional tax clause on inter-state sales.

The Bill in its present form provides 100 per cent compensation to states by the Centre for the first three years, 75 per cent for fourth year and 50 per cent for the fifth year.

The Bill seeks to replace a string of central and local levies such as excise, value added tax into a single unified tax and stitch together a common national market.

The government has decided to table the GST Bill next week. The GST or the 122nd Constitution amendment Bill was passed by the Lok Sabha in May last year but has been pending in the Rajya Sabha.

The government, which has agreed to a five-hour debate on the GST bill in the Rajya Sabha, is keen to get the law passed during the ongoing Monsoon Session of Parliament that ends on August 12.