GST: How PM Modi pulled off his biggest reform yet

By abandoning confrontation and seeking consensus, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has pulled off his biggest reform yet, securing the unanimous support of both houses of parliament for a planned Goods and Services Tax (GST).

Here`s a timeline of how Modi and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley first brought India`s federal states on board, before finally closing the deal at a series of meetings with an opposition Congress party that had become increasingly isolated.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT

• At least half of India`s states and self-governing union territories need to back the GST amendment.

• The GST Council, a forum bringing together the centre and the states, should draft the key terms and scope of the GST. The government`s chief economic adviser has recommended a main rate of 18 percent, but many states want it to be higher while Congress wants it to be capped.

• Two new GST bills are expected to come before parliament in the winter session that begins in November. The states, too, are required to pass their own GST bills.

• The government targets a GST launch date of next April 1, the start of India`s financial year, although experts say that deadline is likely to slip.