Himachal Pradesh State GSL Bill

Shimla, May 27: Himachal Pradesh unanimously passed the state goods and services tax (GST) bill during a special session session on Saturday. Chief Minister Veerabhadra Singh, who also has a finance portfolio, has moved a bill backed by the main opposition party, the Bharatiya Janata Party. The bill was passed on the second day of the house after an hour-long discussion. The house subsequently adjourned sine die. The Chief Minister said the GST would simplify and harmonise the indirect tax regime in the state as well as in the country.
It is expected to reduce cost of production and inflation in the economy, thereby making the trade and industry more competitive, domestically as well as internationally. The Chief Minister told the media that it was the previous Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government that conceived the GST Bill. Leader of the Opposition, twice chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal, said that GST's pro-consumer law and the highest tax reform in independent India. He said the mainstream foods such as wheat and rice were kept out of its range of GST which help ordinary man.