Opposition-ruled states to push for greater say in GST Council

Fresh from electoral victories, Opposition-ruled states are set to make a joint bid for a greater say in the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax regime when the GST Council meets after a seven-month gap on Friday.

Senior Congress leader and Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal accused the Modi government of ignoring the state governments, who enjoy 75 per cent voting rights in the GST Council, and implementing the indirect taxation system through a group of bureaucrats of the GST Implementation Committee.

At least eight Opposition-ruled states, including Punjab, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, are expected to demand an outright grant from the Centre to meet the revenue shortfall instead of the borrowing plan that was “agreed under duress” last year.

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These states have been pushing the Centre to have a Vice Chairman and a Secretariat to the GST Council where state governments can submit their proposals for inclusion in the agenda for the meetings.

Badal said all states, ruled either by the BJP or its rivals, have been affected by the pandemic and there was a need to bring about structural changes in the GST regime. “If we cannot correct GST in its formative stages, it will be very difficult, actually to have a world class GST,” Badal said.

Finance Ministers of Punjab, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, and Tamil Nadu held a virtual meeting on Wednesday to fine tune the joint strategy for the GST meeting. Maharashtra minister could not join the meeting due to “technical issues”.

Badal also sought a separate band of State GST for states with higher revenue deficits to help them bridge the gap. “We need to start talking about this thing and unless we meet every very often, we are not likely to achieve credible GST,” he said.

The recent electoral victories for the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal, DMK in Tamil Nadu, and LDF in Kerala have given a fresh impetus to the Opposition to forcefully make its case at the GST Council.