Is the April 2016 GST dream over?

The government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi began a last push before the end of a stormy Parliament sitting to pass a major tax reform aimed at boosting economic growth, but the opposition Congress party dug in its heels to stop the bill.Aimed at creating a customs union for India's 1.2 billion people, the Goods and Service Tax (GST) is the biggest revenue shake-up since independence in 1947.Supporters say it will add up to two percentage points to economic growth.But a series of obstacles to the prime minister's ambitious agenda of economic reform has increased a sense among debt-laden domestic companies suffering subdued earnings that India's fledgling economic recovery could take longer.The latest casualty could be GST.As monsoon rain lashed the colonial-era parliament building, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley introduced the bill in the Rajya Sabha to yowls of protest from members of the opposition Congress party. Seconds later, the speaker adjourned the chamber, putting off any discussion until Wednesday.The Congress party is demanding the resignation of senior BJP leaders it accuses of graft before allowing Parliament to work. It also wants changes to the bill, which it says has been diluted to win support from states."They don't want the Indian economy to grow," Jaitley said, barely audible above opposition shouts of "this will not go on". He called the protest "merely a pretext".Congress leader Anand Sharma said that the Congress was not opposed to GST in principle, considering it authored the bill when it was in power but insisted that party's suggested changes on it be incorporated.But in an interview with CNBC-TV18, BJP spokesperson Gopal Krishna Agarwal hit out at the Congress' stand, saying its disruptions on the floor of the house would not allow for discussion."Mr Anand Sharma has said we are not against GST. If you are not against GST what is stopping you [from discussing the bill]?" he said.He added that there was no hope for the bill to go through, "given the way the Congress has behaved [so far]".But Congress spokesperson Tom Vadakan accused the BJP of being arrogant and not giving an inch in its demand to accommodate key changes such as the restricting the tax rate to 18 percent, setup of a tribunal and doing away with an additional 1 percent levy."They [BJP] are on a high horse of arrogance of power. They do not want a dialogue," he said.Will the rollout deadline be met?The PM has made the constitutional amendment to allow the new tax the main goal of the summer sitting of Parliament, which ends on Thursday.It is easy to see why: failure to pass the GST bill now will make it hard for Modi to meet a self-imposed April 1, 2016, deadline for implementing it. "If the bill is postponed to the next session, I don't the Finance Minister will be able to meet the deadline. Its rollout will have to be delayed by at least six months," Akali Dal MP Naresh Gujral, who was part of a select committee to review the GST bill, told CNBC-TV18.He added that Congress was isolated in its stand on the GST and that should there by voting, the bill would be passed in the lower Rajya Sabha house of Parliament.The passage of the bill in this session is considered crucial for it achieving its rollout deadline. As the bill requires a change in the Constitution, states will have to pass the bill a resolution in their own assemblies approving the change in tax law.With only two days left for the Monsoon session, it may "practically not be possible" to pass the GST bill, Kerala Finance Minister and chairman of the Empowered Committee on GST KM Mani said.The government has already passed the bill in the lower house. It does not have a majority in the Rajya Sabha, where it needs two-thirds of votes to pass the amendment. That is only possible if most parties support it, or if Congress abstains."I remain hopeful till the last day of this monsoon session that the Congress sees value in supporting this bill," independent Rajya Sabha MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar said. "This is way too important a bill to be lost for the sake of bickering and politics.""But I wouldn’t put my money on this [being passed]," he added.- With inputs from Reuters and CNBC-TV18