India’s GST comes closer to reality: Uttar Pradesh to pass bill

The Indian super-state of Uttar Pradesh will hold its first legislative assembly under new Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday. A member of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP, Adityanath won a sweeping electoral victory in March.

The first order of business: the Goods and Services Tax—a crucial part of Mr Modi’s pledge to reform and revitalise India’s lumbering economy. Modi’s government insists that the GST will be rolled out nationwide by July 1, an ambitious goal given the size of India’s economy and decentralised nature of political power, much of which is held by the country’s 29 states.

Nonetheless, the GST is almost certain to pass in Uttar Pradesh, a political and economic powerhouse home to some 220 million people—a sixth of India’s population. Here the BJP holds a massive 77% of seats in the regional assembly.

Perhaps more concerning for Modi is how the new tax will be received by businesses. Industry leaders have warned they need more time to digest the change and implement measures to administer the new taxes, the rates of which are yet to be announced.