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1st LD Writethru: Indian parliament passes landmark GST bill

Xinhua, August 4, 2016 Adjust font size:

Indian parliament Wednesday passed the landmark Goods and Services Tax (GST) bill, which aims at streamlining the country's fragmented tax system with a single levy.

After a day-long debate in Rajya Sabha (Upper House), almost all the political parties including the main opposition Congress, voted for the long-pending GST bill, which is being described as the country's most transformative tax reform since India's independence from Britain in 1947.

The bill was passed by Lok Sabha (Lower House) last year, but it has been stuck in Rajya Sabha, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party does not command a majority.

The Congress, which has been opposing the bill so far, announced its support for the Constitution (122nd Amendment) Bill, 2014, this morning, but with a rider.

"The Congress party was never against the idea of GST. The country is now ready to embrace the GST. The Congress had opposed the 2014 bill but not the idea. We wanted it to be more perfect. But there can never be a perfect bill," former Indian Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said. Endit