The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council has reconstituted two of its groups of ministers (GoMs) tasked with identifying necessary System Reforms to curb evasion and analysing the revenue trends from the 6-year-old indirect tax regime.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar is back at the helm of the GoM on GST System Reforms, replacing his colleague Devendra Fadnavis. Pawar, who was given charge of the Finance portfolio in the Eknath Shinde government last month, was the original convenor of the GoM set up in September 2021, but as a member of the erstwhile MVA government.
Tamil Nadu Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu has also been included in the GoM, replacing Palanivel Thiaga Rajan, whose portfolio was changed recently.
However, the most critical GoM of the Council tasked with rationalising the rate structure, which was headed by the erstwhile Karnataka Chief Minister (CM) BS Bommai, is yet to be rejigged after the Congress gained power in assembly elections held this May. Karnataka’s Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda has, however, been inducted into the GoM tasked with reviewing revenue trends, whose convenorship role has now been assigned to Haryana Deputy CM Dushyant Chautala.
The GoM, formed in January 2019, had been steered by former Bihar Deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi, followed by former Gujarat Deputy CM Nitin Bhai Patel from June 2021 onwards. Though Mr. Patel had stepped down from this role by September 2021, the GoM had not been rejigged till last month. Incidentally, Mr. Byre Gowda was a member of this GoM at the outset, but was replaced by Mr. Bommai in 2021.
