The Madhya Pradesh Assembly on Wednesday ratified the Constitution Amendment Bill on Goods and Service Tax, reported ANI. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said the Bill will lead to higher gross domestic product and help curb corruption in the country. This comes only a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state Gujarat ratified the Bill.

The Bharatiya Janata Party government in the state convened a one-day sitting of the Assembly to ratify the Bill that will pave way for a new indirect tax regime in the country. Chouhan said the Bill will lead to economic integration of the country, and its implementation will help generate jobs, reported PTI. The state's finance minister, Jayant Malaiya, said Madhya Pradesh will especially benefit from the Bill as it is a consumer state.

Congress leaders put forward several suggestions, such as the GST council should be given constitutional status, and petroleum products should be brought under the purview of the Bill, among others, reported Indian Express. This is the seventh state to ratify the Bill after Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh.

The Bill was passed by the Rajya Sabha on August 3. The Narendra Modi government needs at least 16 states in the country to approve the Bill for it to move to the next step in the process, which is implementation of the single national tax regime across the nation. The Centre plans to roll out the new system on April 1, 2017. Of the 29 states in the country, the BJP is in power in 11 states, either with a majority or through alliance with regional parties.