Sushil Modi elected new chief of Empowered Committee on GST

New Delhi, July 18 (PTI) Eastern Indian state Bihar
Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister Sushil Kumar Modi
was Monday elected the new chairman of the Empowered Committee
of State FMs, which is spearheading the implementation of
Goods and Services Tax (GST).
Modi, who also handles the finance portfolio in the Bihar
government, replaces Asim Dasgupta, who had served in the post
for over a decade since the formation of the body.
The committee had earlier overseen implementation of the
Value Added Tax (VAT) system across the states.
"The substantive bussines of today's meeting was the
election of the chairman. Sushil Modi, the Deputy Chief
Minister and Finance Minister of Bihar, has been elected
unanimously as the chairman of the Empowered Committee of
State Finance Ministers," Indian Finance Minister Pranab
Mukherjee told reporters here.
Mukherjee had invited all state FMs to Delhi Monday for
the meeting of the Empowered Group after a gap of almost five
months.
The post of the chairman of the group fell vacant after
the defeat of Dasgupta in the West Bengal Assembly polls in
May. Dasgupta, who was the West Bengal Finance Minister, had
headed the Committee since its formation in early 2000s.
One of the major tasks before Modi, as the new chairman,
would be to build a consensus on the proposed GST regime,
which has been pending for years.
Mukherjee, however, said that details of the agenda are
still to be worked out.
"Now, they (state FMs) are having discussions. Some
formalities will have to be worked out and after that, the
committee will work out a detailed work programme," Mukherjee
said.
Interestingly, when Mukherjee had earlier offered the
chairmanship to Modi in late May, the Bihar Deputy CM had
declined, citing preoccupation with affairs in his home state.
The Centre had introduced a Constitution Amendment Bill
in the Lok Sabha(Lower House of Indian Parliament) in the last
Budget Session to pave the way for implementation of the new
tax regime.
The Bill, however, is being opposed by the states,
especially the BJP-ruled ones, as well as BSP-ruled north
Indian state Uttar Pradesh, who say its provisions would
curtail their power to levy taxes.
The GST would subsume most of the indirect taxes like
excise duty and service tax at the central level and VAT on
the state front, besides local levies.
Implementation of GST, considered to be a major tax
reform, has been stuck for years due to differences between
the Centre and some states over the new structure.
The Constitution Bill would need the approval of
two-thirds of Parliament and half of India's 28 states to
become a law.
Hence, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) support is crucial at
the state as well as the central level.
After the election of Modi, the BJP-ruled states hoped
that the new chairman would be able to build a consensus on
the issue.
"We are all very positive that under the leadership of
Modi all the issues which have been pending between the Centre
and the states, all the issues related to VAT and GST, will be
amicably solved," Gujarat Finance Minister Saurabhbhai Patel
said.
Meanwhile, the next meeting of the Empowered Group has
been fixed for the second half of August.
"Next round of meeting will be held in second half of
August," Delhi Chief Minister Shiela Dixit, who attended
today's meeting, said.