Govt will push GST bill passage in monsoon session: Naidu

New Delhi: The government will seek to ensure that the bill on a pan-India goods and services tax (GST) will be passed in the upcoming session of parliament, scheduled from July 18 to August 12, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu said on Wednesday.

"We held a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs. The prime minister (Narendra Modi) presided over the meeting. We were all in favour of bringing the GST bill in the monsoon session of parliament," Naidu said.

"There is a lot of consensus on the issue. There are some concerns as well. Both myself and the finance minister (Arun Jaitley) will speak to political parties. The prime minister has already said he is himself ready to talk to political leaders," the minister said after the meeting.

"We feel this is a very important bill and we do hope it will be passed in the monsoon session."

The prime minister had said in an interview to Times Now that the stalling of the GST bill was a a loss for the poor people of India, and hoped the changing party arithmetic in parliament would pave the way for its enactment.

"There is just one group which has made it the issue of prestige," Modi said, referring to the Congress party`s opposition to the GST Bill. "Now the kind of arithmetic which is working out, I hope that this decision is passed in favour of the poor."