Assam Assembly passes GST Bill

The Assam Goods and Services Tax Bill, 2017, which had been tabled on Monday, was passed unanimously by the Assembly in a three-day special session to pass the bill.

"The GST will be a win-win for all the three stakeholders -- country, state and consumers," Assam Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said.

Presently, inflation was likely to fall by 0.5 per cent and after fourth year, the states revenue would increase substantially and stabilise possibly after 10 years, he said adding that five/six taxes would be abolished.

Corruption was likely to go down with introduction of GST as everything would be computerised and manual interference would almost be abolished, the minister said.

Former chief minister Tarun Gogoi said that Congress supported the GST Bill, but there were some concerns like the fate of local small industries on the face of free flow of goods from outside after withdrawal of entry taxes.

Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal termed the day as historic.

"Today is a historic day for Assam as the GST Bill has been passed in the state assembly which will go a long way in promoting the spirit of cooperative federalism in the country," Sonowal said at a programme outside the Assembly.

This would also ensure transparency in governance and lead to economic growth, he said.