The Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers will meet on March 20 to elect its new chairman. The committee at present is engaged in preparing a framework for implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST). The new chairman is likely to be from a non-BJP ruled state, going by convention, sources said. Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will address the state FMs on Friday, they added.
Among those tipped for the job includes Kerala Finance Minister K M Mani and West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra.The post of the Empowered Committee Chairman fell vacant after Abdul Rahim Rather quit following defeat of National Conference in Jammu & Kashmir assembly elections.
The election of the new chairman assumes significance as the Narendra Modi government is keen to roll out Goods and Services Tax from April 1, 2016."I have already introduced the Bill to amend the Constitution of India for Goods and Services Tax (GST) in the last session of this august House," Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had said in his Budget speech.