Members of the Lok Sabha on Monday passed amendments made to the Goods and Services Tax Bill by the Rajya Sabha last week. The prime minister had addressed the Lower House of Parliament on Monday ahead of the vote, and argued for the Bill that will pass the uniform indirect tax. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had introduced it in the House earlier in the day. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party had issued a whip to all its Lok Sabha members to attend the Parliament session on Monday, when the amendments were to be voted upon.

The amendments were passed unanimously, though members of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam had walked out of the House ahead of voting. The Bill now needs the approval of 15 states.

Modi had said the tax will be a move towards helping get rid of “tax terrorism” in the country, and will also assist in curbing black money. He added that states were not self-sufficient but were interdependent and that the GST will help growth in under-developed regions. “It is true that consumer states will benefit more from GST but Centre will compensate manufacturing states in case of losses,” he said.

Earlier, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had introduced the amendments of the Bill to be discussed in the Lok Sabha. The Rajya Sabha passed the Bill last week after adding new clauses to it. The new additions need to be approved by the Lower House of Parliament as well.

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.