Maharashtra state passes State GST bill

The Maharashtra Assembly has passed unanimously the State Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill at a specially convened session of the state legislature. The three-day special session was convened to discuss and ratify the GST bill, to pave the way for its national roll-out on July 1. The Bill was passed on Monday, the last day of the special session.

"All political parties had unanimity over the GST Bill. Today (Monday), this supreme House has unanimously passed this bill. I thank the House for this," chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said, according to an agency report.

The Assembly passed two more bills, besides the State Goods and Services Tax Bill, during the session – that related to the compensation to local authorities and a bill on the existing laws to be repealed when the GST comes into effect, the report said.
Maharashtra Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar stated that the state government would ensure GST did not hamper financial autonomy of local self governance bodies, according to the report.

"The government has accepted the responsibility of compensation to local bodies for five years for the loss of revenue due to abolition of octroi and local body tax due to GST," he said.