Bengal dials other states to defer GST roll-out

West Bengal government, along with the help of other states, will try to defer the Goods and Services Tax (GST) roll-out by at least two months. The states will raise this demand at the GST council meeting on Saturday.

Trinamool Congress, which is at loggerheads with the Centre over many issues, wants GST to start not before September as there are alleged “discrepancies” in tax structure and many rules are yet to be framed. The Opposition’s move comes a day after finance minister Arun Jaitley said that the government is ready to roll out GST from July 1.

“Bengal finance minister Amit Mitra has dialed many Opposition leaders to garner support for a delay. There are genuine concerns,” said a senior Congress strategist.

Ever since the tax rates for most goods and services were fixed, there has been hectic lobbying by states and industry bodies for concessions, leading Arun Jaitley to say that, “Using media propaganda for getting rates varied will not make significant impact on the Council’s decision”. PTI had quoted revenue secretary as saying that there is scope for rationalising tax rates as the government’s intention is to increase revenue without hike in tax rates.

At a district-level meeting in her state, Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said, “I am very annoyed. I have already asked the state chief secretary to send a strong letter to the Union finance ministry elaborating our objections in accepting GST in the present form.”

The Opposition will also demand rate concessions on items such as shoes priced below ₹500, single-screen theatres and vernacular cinema. All these categories have potential for job creation. “I shall highlight that there are major objections from different sectors of the state to rolling out GST from July 1. The services sector is against it,” Mitra added.