Will Reach Out To Congress Over Goods And Services Tax Bill: Arun Jaitley

New Delhi: Despite the opposition showing no signs of relenting, the Government has not given up the hope of passing important legislation like the Goods And Services Tax or the GST bill in the current session of Parliament.

After presenting the union budget yesterday, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said he would reach out to the Congress to resolve the impasse over the bill and added that he hoped that the government may able to move the bill in the second half of the budget session.

"Over the last few months, the government's efforts to build consensus on the GST bill have ensured that most political parties are in its favour. The Congress party had put forward some conditions for supporting the bill. Just one of their conditions needs to be sorted now. I will personally talk to the Congress to move ahead," he said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had reached out to the Congress top brass by inviting party president Sonia Gandhi and former PM Manmohan Singh in November last. The meeting was seen as an ice breaker but the Congress didn't relent. The government accepted two of its demands - putting a cap on GST rate and abolition of 1 per cent origin tax for manufacturing states. There is no consensus on the dispute redressal mechanism though.

The NDA government had initially had planned a GST rollout from April 1, 2016 but the Congress' opposition and endless disruptions during the last three sessions have delayed the constitutional amendment that proposes one tax for all India.

The government has been trying to sell the GST as the antidote which will lead to expansion of revenue, benefit poor states, bring ease of doing business and facilitate seamless transfer of goods and services.

Initially the government had planned to bring the bill in the first half of the budget session. But the opposition managed to force a deal with the government which included taking up debate on contentious issues like the JNU controversy and Hyderabad University student Rohith Vemula's suicide, agrarian distress and Pathankot terror attack before the GST bill.