Meeting of state finance ministers on May 5: Kerala FM

Thiruvananthapuram, May 2 (UNI) A meeting of the Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers will be held here to discuss the Goods and Service Tax on May five, Kerala Finance Minister T M Thomas Issac said today.

Talking to newspersons here, he said a two-day national seminar on 'Centre-State Financial Relations,' in the Context of the 13th Finance Commission,' would be held on May six which would be inaugurated by Kerala Chief Minister V S Achutanandan.

''There is a need to look into the Centre-state financial relations in the context of the 13th Finance Commission,'' Dr Issac said.

The introduction of VAT and the proposed uniform tax structures like Goods and Services Tax had added new dimension to the whole issues, he said, adding that the seminar would explore new horizons and bring forth new ideas and initiatives in Centre-state financial relations.

West Bengal Finance Minister and Chairman of the Empowered Committee Asim Das Gupta, Haryana Finance Minister Birender Singh, Maharashtra Finance Minister Jayanthi Patil, Gujarat Finance Minister Saurabhbhai Patel, Jharkhand Deputy Chief Minister Stephen Marandi, Jammu and Kashmir Finance Minister Tariq Hameed Karra, Tamil Nadu Commercial Taxes Minister S N M Upayathullah and Delhi Finance Minister A K Walia, among others, would attend the seminar, he said.

Apart from Finance Ministers, academicians like Prabhat Patnaik, Abhijith Sen, Jayati Ghosh, C P Narayanan, Praveen Jha and C Rammanohar Reddy would also participate in the seminar, he added.

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