India's finance minister Arun Jaitely speaking in the Parliament India's upper house of parliament on Wednesday (Aug 3) passed a landmark tax reform bill that will pave the way for the introduction of a new national sales tax, creating a common market across the country for the first time.
After hours of debate, lawmakers unanimously voted in favour of introducing the long-awaited Goods and Services Tax (GST) after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government reached a consensus with the Congress party and other opposition party members.
The GST will replace a patchwork of central and state levies on goods and services and is one of the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party government's biggest reforms since taking power in May 2014. Modi described the bill's passage as a ‘truly historic occasion’ and thanked members of all parties for their support.
‘We will continue to work with all parties & states to introduce a system that benefits all Indians & promotes a vibrant & unified national market,’ Modi tweeted after the bill received the thumbs up.
The battle to introduce the economy-boosting GST has been one of the fiercest of Modi's premiership, with Congress repeatedly blocking the bill for more than a year, before finally agreeing to several amendments.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley hailed it as a ‘great day for Indian democracy and federalism’ once the bill had passed. ‘It integrates India into one economic entity...
India becomes a big market, there will be a seamless transfer of goods and services across the country,’ he said earlier on Wednesday.
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