Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today introduced a Constitution Amendment Bill to enable the introduction of Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill in the Lok Sabha. Moving the Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty Second Amendment) Bill, 2014, Mr Jaitley said, adequate safeguards have been taken in the Bill to maintain the rights of states on taxes. He assured that the proposed Goods and Services Tax Bill will provide more than adequate protection to the states. Stating that it will be a win-win situation for both the states and the Centre, the Finance Minister said no state is going to be a loser as their losses will be compensated initially for three years, which may be extended to five years. The GST bill will cover all goods and services, except alcoholic liquor for human consumption. Petroleum products will remain outside the purview of the bill till it is notified by the Goods and Services Tax Council.

Earlier, replying to a discussion on Appropriation Bill in the Rajya Sabha, the Minister said, the Constitution Amendment Bill on GST will be passed in the Budget Session. Responding to queries by members, the Finance Minister said, he had held many rounds of consultations with state finance ministers on GST and their suggestions have been taken care of. On bringing down the expenditure, the Finance Minister said the government is following a balancing act to rationalize it. To a specific question on the devaluation of the rupee, Mr. Jaitley said the Indian currency is doing much better compared to other trading countries. He said the rupee witnessed volatility in the last few days, but there is no serious crisis. Justifying the hike in excise duty on petroleum products, Mr Jaitley said there is no question of profiteering as the money accrued from the duty will go to social sector schemes. Later, the Upper House returned the Appropriation bill by voice vote and with this the bill got the approval of Parliament. The Lok Sabha had passed the bill last week.