GST to make India one uniform market: Jaitley

Mumbai: Finance minister Arun Jaitley yesterday said that the goods and services tax (GST) will help in economic integration of the country by enabling seamless transfer of goods and services.

"India becomes one uniform market, where there is a seamless transfer of goods and services," Jaitley said at the launch of three new social security schemes here.

According to Jaitley, after the implementation of GST the state revenues will increase as economic activity will pick-up.

"The entire country will become one market. It will be an economic integration of India," Jaitley said citing economic benefits like single point of payment of taxes for movement throughout the country.

The main purpose of the GST bill is a unified regime that will subsume most indirect taxes levied by the central and state governments such as excise duty, service tax, value added tax, sales tax and octroi to facilitate a common market across the country.

On May 6, the Lok Sabha had given its consent to an amendment to the constitution to pave the way for a pan-India goods and services tax (GST) regime and create a unified market across the country by doing away with a multiplicity of central and state levies.

The bill will now go to the Rajya Sabha, the upper house, for passage following which it has to be ratified by at least half the states, before the president can put his seal of approval for it to take effect.