Indicating for the first time his apprehensions over the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax as per schedule, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee today said there may be a delay of a few months in introducing the new indirect tax regime, slated to be brought into force from April 1, 2010.

“I am trying to stick to the time schedule, but I will not be surprised if there is slippage of a few months,” Mukherjee said at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit here, adding that the government is sincerely trying for convergence on various issues.

The minister said, “Right now, the empowered committee of state finance ministers is meeting in Delhi. It means that we are seriously trying for convergence of views, I am going to have meeting on 10th of next month.”

Earlier in the day, the empowered group had held a meeting to discuss various aspects of GST structure. When asked if the GST deadline was sacrosanct, empowered committee chairman Asim Dasgupta said, “Our collective target is April 1, 2010, and on this we will have discussions with the finance minister.”

He said the Committee will come out with a discussion paper on GST on November 10 and that “the draft was circulated, states have given their views. So we have taken a convergent position now. This would be our first discussion paper. It would be followed by a second discussion paper”.

Though convergence has been arrived on many issues, “but at the same time, it will take some legislative measures, including Constitutional amendment, and that has its own space”, Mukherjee said. The empowered committee has already constituted a working group for suggesting Constitutional amendments and model GST Act.

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