The powerful Goods and Services Tax or GST Council is meeting in Srinagar today to finalise tax rates for different commodities and services ahead of the launch of the mega tax reform on July 1. The choice of venue for the two-day meeting, the council's last before the tax is rolled out, is seen as a political message from the BJP, which partners Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti's People's Democratic Party (PDP) in Jammu and Kashmir. It comes amid an escalation of violence and protests in the Kashmir Valley and the government wants to signal that it has the situation under control and that the state is safe for investors.
