President’s approval awaited for GST Bill after Odisha becomes 16th state to ratify it
The Assembly’s unanimous decision fulfilled the required that at least half the states needed to pass it before it could be sent to Pranab Mukherjee.
The Odisha Assembly on Thursday passed the Goods and Services Tax Constitution Amendment Bill, becoming the 16th state to do so. This means the Bill has achieved the minimum number of state approvals (half the total number), and can now be sent to the president.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik (pictured above) moved a statutory resolution, and it got the support of all political parties. Patnaik said the state has a few reservations, including the green tax on polluting goods, which it will take up with the Centre separately.
Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia tweeted, "With Odisha ratifying the constitutional amendment bill for GST, minimum requirement of 50% states ratifying the bill is complete. Glad to inform that we are ahead of our schedule for implementation of GST so far. Instead of 30 days kept for this it is achieved in 23 days [sic].”