Delhi and its neighbouring states Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh have agreed to move towards uniformity in tax rates and develop a common market to boost trade. The decision to this effect was taken at a meeting held at the Delhi Secretariat in which Finance Ministers of all four states were present. During the meeting, it was felt that there should be uniformity in tax rates of VAT on all goods and due to huge variance in tax rates, Delhi and its neighbouring states are witnessing a loss of revenue. An official release said, in the meeting, it was decided to establish a Zonal Economic Intelligence Unit to avoid cross border smuggling of goods. A committee comprising secretaries and commissioners of the Finance and Taxation departments of the northern states will be formed soon to decide about the modalities to achieve uniformity in tax rates and others. Besides Delhi Finance Minister Manish Sisodia, the meeting was attended by Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal and Finance Minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa, Haryana Finance Minister Captain Abhimanyu and Himachal Pradesh Finance Minister Parkash Chaudhary. The meeting also decided to invite Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir to join the initiative.