Swamy ke peeche kaun hai?

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

The name may be Bond, James Bond, but there is always an 'M' in distant London, the super-boss of the MI6, who dictates each of his moves like a puppeteer to the puppet.

To break the GST logjam, FM meets Anand Sharma

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat

EXCLUSIVE

Harish Gupta

New Delhi, Dec 6 :

The Central government established its first contact with the Congress for the smooth passage of the long pending GST Bill when Union finance minister Arun Jaitley met the deputy leader of the Congress party in the Rajya Sabha  Anand Sharma. The meeting lasted for nearly an hour on Saturday and Jaitley took time out in between the marriage ceremony functions of his daughter.

This was the first meeting between the BJP and the Congress leaders after the Chief Economic Advisor Arvind  Subramaniam"s report was submitted on Friday signalling a forward movement on the GST Bill. While the Subramaniam Committee has already met one of the crucial demands of the Congress and dropped the 1% inter-state tax for the benefit of manufacturing states, no solution could be found on the ticklish issue of mentioning of standard tax rate in the Constitution Amendment Bill. Another issue that cropped up during the Jaitley-Sharma meeting was exclusion of alcohol, real estate, electricity and petroleum from the GST regime. The Congress wants them to be included at the outset of the GST regime.

But the Subramaniam panel has suggested that these can be brought under the GST within 3-5 years time-frame. The GST regime can be strengthened gradually rather than going whole hog and implement the same in one go on April 1, 2016. The final draft of the GST Bill will be presented to the Rajya Sabha only after these discussions are taken to a logical conclusion. While Anand Sharma will brief his senior party leaders of the proposals made by the government, Jaitley will have to work hard to bring states on board. The GST Bill may have been listed for the week beginning Monday in the Rajya Sabha but it will take some shape only on Thursday and the final decision on the Bill only in the third week of December. Besides, both sides agreed that steps be taken to ensure creating a congenial atmosphere in Parliament and way out be found on the Gen. V K Singh issue. The Congress has already decided not to allow minister of state for external affairs Gen. V K Singh to speak in Parliament.

 

Govt climbs down, willing to drop 1% tax

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

Harish Gupta

New Delhi, Dec 3

The government has signaled its willingness to climb down from the high horse on the GST bill and accept some of the suggestions given by the Congress. With Chief economic adviser Arvind Subramaniam holding prolonged discussions with Union finance minister Arun Jaitley after returning from the USA today, indications are that the government may accept Congress suggestion not to impose one per cent extra tax for the manufacturing states of Gujrat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu & Karnataka. The Centre will meet the revenue loss up to one per cent of these states after accepting the Congress demand.

Jaitely indicates Centre may accept a "Band rate" (18-20%) instead of 18% fixed at present; discuss other issues with Oppn

With regard to fixing a Cap on GST rate, the government has signaled that it is willing to discuss the issue.  Instead of a fixed tax rate, the government may accept a "Band rate" (18-20%) instead of 18% fixed at present.The third proposal relating to dispute redressal mechanism being entrusted to GST Council as proposed in the Bill, the government is ready to evolve an alternative mechanism.

Jaitley told journalists today that the government is striving hard to ensure the smooth passage of the GST Bill and will shortly discuss the same with the Congress leadership. But the problem is that the government's proposals are not ready formally as yet and neither Sonia Gandhi is in town. With both houses of Parliament functioning smoothly today after a week, the business is proceeding as per schedule. In fact, the Lok Sabha passed two bills today and the Rajya Sabha also took up one bill for the passage. Now the matter will come up for discussion sometime on Monday next.