After getting LS nod, GST Bill to be discussed in Rajya Sabha today

New Delhi: A day after the government managed to get the key Bill on Goods and Services Tax (GST) passed in the Lok Sabha amid a walkout by the main opposition Congress, the legislation will come up for discussion in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday.

However, the sailing will not be smooth for the Modi government in the Upper House as Opposition is in majority there. Opposition parties led by the Congress are demanding that the Bill should be sent to the standing committee.

The Bill cannot be passed in the Rajya Sabha without non-NDA parties supporting it as the ruling dispensation has only 63 members in the 244-member House. The government would need at least 122 votes in the Rajya Sabha as the Bill is required to be passed by two-third of the total members present and voting, which cannot be less than the simple majority of the actual strength of the House.

The Narendra Modi government has set April 1, 2016 as the latest deadline for implementing GST, which will subsume excise, service tax, state VAT, entry tax, octroi and other state levies. But for that to happen, the Constitution Amendment Bill needs to be cleared by the Rajya Sabha and has to be endorsed by state legislatures. Subsequently, the Centre and states will decide on the tax rate and a GST Bill will have to be approved by Parliament.

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Source:Zeenews