The four Bills that would operationalise the rolling out of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) were tabled in the Lok Sabha on Monday amid opposition protests that the Bills were not listed in the day’s agenda before hand.

This objection followed the treasury to the Business Advisory meet of the Lok Sabha, with the final decision that the Bills — the Central Goods and Service Tax Bill 2017, Integrated Goods and Services Tax Bill 2017, Union Territory Goods and Services Tax Bill 2017, and the Goods and Services Tax Bill (Compensation to States) 2017 — will be taken up on Wednesday for consideration and passing. The government proposes to launch GST from July 1. It is estimated that rolling out of the GST can add up to 2 % to India’s economic growth.

“The introduction of the GST Bill in the Lok Sabha today marks a watershed moment in the tax reform landscape of the country,” This marks the successful culmination of a series of steps taken by the government since August 2016 and it now appears certain that India is headed for a GST rollout from July 2017.

With the introduction of the GST Bills in Parliament, it is now expected that the GST Rules and the GST Rates for both goods and services would be announced soon, enabling business to be prepared for the imminent go-live date of July 2017.