The Chhattisgarh state assembly unanimously ratified the Goods and Service Tax (GST) Bill during its special one day session on Monday after a six hour forty five minutes-long discussion.
Chhattisgarh became the fifth State to ratify the Constitution One Hundred and Twenty-Second Amendment Bill (GST) after Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand and Himachal Pradesh which also ratified the bill on Monday.
Calling the unanimous ratification of the bill as a “moment of proud” for Chhattisgarh Assembly, Chief Minister Raman Singh said, “I would like to thank the leader of opposition in the assembly, all the MLAs of the Congress, the BSP and independent MLA and our MLAs and ministers, who participated in this fruitful six hour forty five minutes long discussion and made some excellent suggestions.”
“Sixteen various types of taxes have been made into one simple taxation system. This will strengthen our economy and service sector,” the chief minister added.
The Bill was tabled in the House by the Minister for Commercial Taxes Amar Agrawal.
Mr. Singh also thanked the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and union finance minister Arun Jaitly for “displaying strong will by bringing everyone on the same stage for the GST."
Senior Congress leader and the leader of opposition in the State Assembly T.S.Singh Deo, however, expressed apprehensions over distribution in the GST council.
“The GST council has been proposed to be constituted in such a way that without the center’s approval, the states will not be able to push their issues and demands,” said Mr. Deo.
