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Can speak to Rahul Gandhi over GST : Arun Jaitley

by IBNS 04 Nov 2015, 10:54 am

New Delhi, Nov 4 (IBNS) As the Narendra Modi Government grapples to make a way out for the passage to its ambitious Goods and Services Tax (GTS) Bill, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday said he would take up the issue with Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi.

"We are willing to speak to any of their leaders,"  Jaitley was quoted as saying by Bloomberg News.

Asked if that includes Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, Mr Jaitley said: "Certainly. Why not?"

GST is aimed at  doing away with more than a dozen state levies to create a single market. It is supposed to be enforced from April 1. But that will not be possible if Parliament does not pass the constitutional amendment in the winter session.

"I would try and persuade them to have it cleared now, as soon as possible, because it is going to be one of the most important reforms in India," Jaitley said. 

Once the GST Bill is passed, more than half of the states have to ratify it before Parliament passes another enabling bill to implement GST.

The Congress  is vehemently opposed to states being given powers to impose one per cent tax over and above the GST rate. 

"Since it is a Constitution amendment and it will stand the test of time, I don't want to create an architecture which is faulty, and some of their suggestions could hurt that architecture," Jaitley said when asked if he would compromise.

"But if there is something which doesn't hurt but strengthens the GST architecture, I am certainly willing to look at it...So far, we have been speaking to the more accessible section of the Congress party."