Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and all State Finance Ministers are taking part in a two-day meeting of the Empowered Committee on the Goods and Services Tax Bill which began in Kolkata today. West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra is presiding over the meeting. Presently, Mr Mitra is the Chairperson of the Empowered Committee on the GST. Sources said, during the meeting, efforts will be made to reach at a consensus among the states on GST Bill.<br/><br/>It may be recalled that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee initially had opposed the GST Bill but now she has expressed her support to the bill. She has asked Mr Mitra to try for the speedy passage of the bill. <br/><br/>The GST bill, which will help create a single national sales tax to replace several state and central levies, has already been approved by the Lok Sabha and is pending in the Rajya Sabha, where the government doesn't have a majority.<br/><br/>Meanwhile, Mr Jaitley has expressed confidence that legislation activity can proceed at a faster pace with the increase in strength of those parties which support bills in the Rajya Sabha and do not obstruct. <br/><br/>Talking to reporters in Allahabad yesterday, the Union Minister said, the strength of the BJP, NDA and a lot of other parties which support the GST Bill, has increased. He said, the Government will be approaching every political party without exception.<br/><br/>In a related development, Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha told a news agency that If the Bill is passed in the Monsoon session of Parliament beginning next month, then it can be implemented from 1st of April 2017. Mr Sinha added that after Parliament approves the constitutional amendment to allow GST, it needs to be ratified by more than half of states. Then Parliament must pass another bill to implement the GST, he said.

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and all State Finance Ministers are taking part in a two-day meeting of the Empowered Committee on the Goods and Services Tax Bill which began in Kolkata today. West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra is presiding over the meeting. Presently, Mr Mitra is the Chairperson of the Empowered Committee on the GST. Sources said, during the meeting, efforts will be made to reach at a consensus among the states on GST Bill.<br/><br/>It may be recalled that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee initially had opposed the GST Bill but now she has expressed her support to the bill. She has asked Mr Mitra to try for the speedy passage of the bill. <br/><br/>The GST bill, which will help create a single national sales tax to replace several state and central levies, has already been approved by the Lok Sabha and is pending in the Rajya Sabha, where the government doesn't have a majority.<br/><br/>Meanwhile, Mr Jaitley has expressed confidence that legislation activity can proceed at a faster pace with the increase in strength of those parties which support bills in the Rajya Sabha and do not obstruct. <br/><br/>Talking to reporters in Allahabad yesterday, the Union Minister said, the strength of the BJP, NDA and a lot of other parties which support the GST Bill, has increased. He said, the Government will be approaching every political party without exception.<br/><br/>In a related development, Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha told a news agency that If the Bill is passed in the Monsoon session of Parliament beginning next month, then it can be implemented from 1st of April 2017. Mr Sinha added that after Parliament approves the constitutional amendment to allow GST, it needs to be ratified by more than half of states. Then Parliament must pass another bill to implement the GST, he said.