Sushil Kumar Modi - Chairman of the Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers on GST

BJP leader and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi was elected Chairman of the Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers on GST (Goods and Services Tax) on 18 July 2011. Modi was elected in place of the former West Bengal Finance Minister, Asim Dasgupta who had to bow out following his defeat in the Assembly elections.

Modi ‘s name as chairman of the empowered panel was proposed by Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and seconded by Orissa Finance Minister Prafulla Chandra Ghadai. Union Finance Minister had sounded out Modi in May 2011 for chairmanship of the empowered committee whose task is to spearhead implementation of the new tax regime.

The roll-out of the GST regime has been delayed owing to the opposition by BJP-ruled States such as Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. The prime concern of the states was that the new indirect tax regime would infringe on the States' autonomy in levying taxes.

Modi’s appointment as the chairman of the empowered committee is expected to brighten the prospects of reaching a consensus among all the States on the proposed GST regime.

A Constitution Amendment Bill on GST was introduced in the Lok Sabha during the budget session, which was then referred to a Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance.

Most of the contentious issues surrounding the GST are State-centric and are related to revenue losses that States would be incurring on account of the new tax regime. Modi announced that the empowered group would meet in mid-August and discuss the issues relating to compensation package for phasing out Central Sales Tax for fiscal 2010-11.