BUSINESS NEWS:Government to finalize GST rate, rollout date by end-Jan: Minister

NEW DELHI: Government is likely to finalize by this month-end the rate of a new Goods and Services Tax (GST) and the date of its implementation,
a state minister said on Friday.

Asim Dasgupta, the head of the panel of state finance ministers on GST and finance minister of West Bengal, said states need more time to build a consensus on the new tax that was scheduled to be introduced in April 2010.

"We will meet by month end and hope to finalize the date and the rate of GST," he told reporters after meeting Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.

Mukherjee had earlier said there could be a delay in introduction of GST.

The proposed GST would be an indirect tax that would replace existing state and federal levies such as excise duty, service tax, and value-added tax (VAT), and reduce the tax burden for industry and consumers.

Before introducing GST, states wanted to phase out central sales tax (CST) and have sought 140 billion rupees as compensation for cutting the rate by 1 percentage point, Dasgupta added.