As the days of the next session of the cabinet are coming closer, the prediction about the Goods and Service Tax bill are being formulated daily.

On Tuesday, Jaitley’s mandate was to ensure that states agree to a formula to determine a compensation rate in case of a revenue loss after moving to the new system. On Wednesday the council will discuss the most contentious issue - tax rates.

A four-slab structure of 6, 12, 18 and 26 per cent with a cess on the highest band for ultra-luxury goods, proposed by the Centre, was hotly debated. The Council also examined the demerit of items like tobacco in a GST regime.

Food items are proposed to be exempt from the tax and 50 percent of the items of common usage will be exempt to keep the inflation under check, sources in the Council said. With regard to compensation for states, 2015-16 would be taken as the base year for calculating revenue, assuming a long-term growth rate of 14 per cent.

N. Chandrasekaran considers his company's downfall as "A temporary blip"