Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia on Thursday said the target date for the roll out of the new Goods and Services Tax will be April 1, 2017, reported PTI. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the prices of some commodities might go down after the roll out.

The Union minister also said the new indirect tax regime will add to the ease of doing business in the country. On August 3, the Rajya Sabha passed the GST Constitution Amendment Bill after Jaitley brought it up for debate earlier in the day. The Bharatiya Janata Party-led government at the Centre has consistently pressed the Upper House to okay the Bill after the Lok Sabha passed it in May 2015.

Jaitley said, “The merits of the system are that it will convert India into one economic market and will introduce a uniform tax across the country, check tax evasion. This will also boost the growth rate.”

The GST Bill seeks to bring in a single tax rate to replace India’s complicated current rules, which include central excise duty, service tax, additional customs duties, value added tax, entertainment tax and so on. It will replace 17 indirect tax levies. The Centre believes this will help create a unified market in the country, avoiding double taxation and increase compliance. The GST will have a central component, and a state component, which both forms of government will administer at their levels.