Pranab meets state FMs on GST     

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee early on Wednesday said he will be seeking fresh inputs from finance ministers of state governments on goods and services tax (GST) and direct tax code.

According to govt officials, the meeting that started earlier today is a pre-budget exercise.

In a pre-meet statement, Mukherjee said, inflation remains a major area of concern but the govt has enough availability of wheat and rice.

The Finance Minister said he would ask states to unload surplus rice and wheat for open market operations and that cash surplus in state govts be ultilised for development activity.

Source: BloombergUTV, India, dated 13/01/2010