A day after the Rajya Sabha passed an amendment to the Constitution enabling the passage of GST, the finance ministry has announced an April 2017 deadline for the uniform taxation system.

Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia said his target was for the necessary majority of states to ratify the constitutional change in next 30 days, allowing a new GST Council to finalise legislations that will set the rate and other terms of the tax.

Adhia also told a news conference that it would be "premature" to expect the GST's standard rate to be 18 percent, as proposed by the government's own chief economic adviser, saying this would imply significant revenue losses.

Most revenues came from excise duty and value-added tax whose standard rates, taken together, add up to a tax burden of 27 percent for businesses selling goods. -- Reuters