At least 11 states are lining up special legislative sessions to ratify the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill. This is good news for the Union government, which is looking to implement the new tax regime by April 1, 2017. A minimum of 16 states need to pass GST before it can be sent to the President for his assent.
Assam was the first state to ratify the bill, followed by Bihar and Jharkhand. Assam and Bihar called for special sessions, while Jharkhand extended its monsoon session to ensure it is passed.
Some of the states—excluding BJP-led ones—which have announced that they will give GST the green signal are West Bengal, led by the Trinamool Congress, Karnataka under the Congress, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi-ruled Telangana and the Aam Aadmi Party-led Delhi.
NDA-led states Goa, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat and Maharashtra are expected to ratify the bill soon. The Telugu Desam Party has also announced it will convene a special session in the Andhra Pradesh assembly for the same.
The Delhi, Gujarat and Chhattisgarh assemblies are meeting on August 22 to ratify the bill while Madhya Pradesh MLAs are meeting on August 24 and West Bengal is convening a two-day session on August 26. Telangana will do so too this month. Maharashtra is expected to meet in the first week of September.
Most monsoon sessions of the state assemblies have passed, which is why it is expected that GST will be ratified in the other states in November or December during the winter sittings.
Once 16 or more states pass the bill, it will be sent to the President for his assent.
