GST rollout at Central Hall of Parliament: Complete schedule and list of dignitaries attending mega event

After 17 tumultuous years, a nationwide Goods and Services Tax (GST) will roll out from midnight tonight, overhauling India's convoluted indirect taxation system and unifying the USD 2 trillion economy with 1.3 billion people into a single market. GST, which will replace more than a dozen central and state levies like factory-gate, excise duty, service tax and local sales tax or VAT, is India's biggest tax reform in the 70 years of independence and will help modernise Asia's third largest economy.

The historic Central Hall of Parliament will host a midnight function on June 30 to launch the sweeping tax reform of GST, reminiscent of India's tryst with destiny on the midnight of August 15, 1947. The government will use the circular-shaped Central Hall, perhaps for the first time, to launch a new taxation system that is set to dramatically re-shape the over USD 2 trillion economy.

The launch event will in all probability start at 11 pm on June 30 and extend into midnight, coinciding with the rollout of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime, official sources said.

A gong will be sounded at midnight to signify that GST has arrived. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is key speaker at the function where President Pranab Mukherjee is also present.  The GST Bill was originally piloted by Mukherjee when he was the Finance Minister in the previous UPA regime. The GST Council, that brings together the central and state governments, has met 17 times to thrash out how the tax will work.

Originally, the launch of GST, which has been in works for over a decade, was to be done from Vigyan Bhawan -- the largest convention centre in the national capital that has hosted majority of the meetings of the GST Council.

But the historic Central Hall was thought to be a better choice considering the importance of the new tax code that unifies more than a dozen separate levies to create a single market with a population greater than the US, Europe, Brazil, Mexico and Japan put together.

 

Here's the complete schedule: 

 

Revised Programme

Central Hall-June 30, 2017

22:55 hrs

President arrives at Parliament House, received by dignitaries

23:00 hrs

President arrives in Central Hall

23:01 hrs

Playing of National Anthem

23:02 hrs 

Felicitation and introductory remarks by Finance Minister

23:10 hrs

Film/Presentation on GST

23:15 hrs

Address by the Prime Minister 

23:45 hrs

Address by the President of India

00:00 hrs

Launch of GST (including film)

00:03 hrs

Announcement by Marshal

00:04  hrs

Playing of National Anthem

00:05  hrs

President leaves

 

List of guests who will attend at the Central Hall of Parliament: 

President Mukherjee 
Vice President Ansari

​Prime Minister Narendra Modi

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley

Former PM HD Deva Gowda
 

LS Speaker Sumitra Mahajan 

Former Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal

NC leader Abdul Rahim

Former GST Council chairman Sushil Kumar Modi

Former FM of Bengal - Asim Dasgpta

Former FM of Kerala - KK Mani

Amitabh Bachchan

Business tycoon Ratan Singha

BJP president Amit Shah

 

Former FM Yashwant Sinha

Governor of RBI - Urjit Patel 

Former governors Bimal Jalan, YV Reddy and D Subbarao

CAG Shashi Kant Pai

Former CAGs Vinod Rai 

TN Chaturvedi 

Niti Ayog Vice Chairman Arvind Panagariya 

E Sreedharan 

S Gurumurthy 

M Swaminathan 
 

UPSC Chairman David R Syeiemilieh 
 

CBEC Chairman Vanaja N Sarna
CBD Chairman Sushil Chandra