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The
bankruptcy law is aimed at unifying and overhauling rules
governing the liquidation or revival of ailing companies into a
single code and for the first time imposing deadlines.
Its passage was widely considered to be a done deal after the
government introduced the legislation as a money bill which
could not have been blocked in the opposition-dominated upper
house.
But Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday gave in to a
demand by some opposition members for a review by a
parliamentary panel. The panel has been asked to submit its
suggestions in the first week of the session that begins in
February.
Jayant Sinha, Jaitley's deputy in the finance ministry, told
reporters that while the government would have liked to pass the
bill, it also wanted it to be foolproof.
The month-long session was also expected to make a breakthrough
on the passage of the proposed goods and services tax (GST) that
has been languishing in parliament since last December.
The measure is the biggest tax reform since India's independence
from Britain in 1947. It seeks to replace a slew of federal and
state levies, converting the nation of 1.2 billion people into a
customs union.
But the tax bill has become a victim of a battle between Prime
Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party and the
opposition Congress.
Even Jaitley's offer to address some of the Congress party's
concerns on the bill failed to paper over the fraying ties
between the two parties.
The failure to pass the GST in the session has ensured that
Jaitley's self-imposed deadline of April 1 for its launch will
be missed.
"April 1 is out of question," a senior finance ministry official
said without spelling out a new timeline.
Sinha also shied away from setting a new date for the GST
rollout, which he said was dependent on the passage of the bill.
With political parties gearing up for a fresh set of state
elections next year, very few are hopeful of speedier reforms.
"Prospects for wide-ranging reform in the first half of 2016
look slim too," wrote Shilan Shah, an economist with Capital
Economics.
(Additional reporting by Nigam Prusty and Aditya Kalra; Editing
by Sanjeev Miglani)
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