Centre, states unable to find meeting ground on GST

The centre and states are still unable to agree on the constitutional amendments needed to pass the bill on the proposed indirect tax reform - the goods and services tax (GST) - which the union government hopes to implement next year.

Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee had a meeting with the empowered committee of state finance ministers on Wednesday where he promised another draft to address concern raised by the states ruled by leading opposition party BJP and Tamil Nadu, where the Congress' key ally DMK is in power.

''Some states sought more time, about a month or so and union finance minister has agreed,'' said Asim Dasgupta, West Bengal finance minister and chairman of the empowered committee, after the meeting.

However, he said the panel had left the decision to introduce the bill in the monsoon session on union finance minister.

Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and the BJP-ruled states including Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Uttarakhand, Karnataka, and Chhattisgarh refused to go along with the new draft of constitutional amendments even after extracting several concessions from the centre.

''I have been wondering the reason for the rush to implement the GST as if the country is passing through a severe financial crisis and GST is the panacea for all the ills,'' said Madhya Pradesh finance minister Raghavji. He added that the states had got barely two working days to examine the revised draft and take a decision on it.