GST - We will be able to honour commitment we have made to nation – FM
ADDRESSING the Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers, yesterday, the Finance Minister said, “some State Finance Ministers expressed reservations on the introduction of GST by April 2011 and advised a further postponement. Here, I will like to stress the urgency of bringing to culmination an effort which started four years ago. As I had mentioned in my last meeting with you, we must make all efforts to meet the timelines we have set for ourselves. It must be appreciated that the Constitutional Amendment is only an enabling provision. It does not prohibit us from continuing our dialogue on rates, exemptions and other issues related to GST. Both the activities can go on parallely. The wisdom lies in moving ahead with the Constitutional Amendment without any further delay as a preparatory step for the introduction of GST. I have great faith in the collective wisdom of the Empowered Committee and am confident that as we move parallely on Constitutional Amendment, development of IT infrastructure and finalization of architecture of rates, exemptions and thresholds, we will be able to honour the commitment we have made to the nation.”
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