Finance Minister T. Harish Rao has demanded that the Central government take steps to release the IGST dues to the tune of ₹ 2,641 crore with immediate effect.
He wanted the Group of Ministers constituted on IGST related issues to ask the Centre to release the dues before the next meeting of the GST Council slated on October 5. Mr. Harish Rao was participating in a meeting of GoM chaired by IGST convener and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi through video conference on Tuesday.
He said release of dues would be of significant help to the States whose finances were hit by COVID-19. Dues to the tune of ₹ 2,641 crore were pending to Telangana while there was minor variation in the calculation by the GST Council which pegged them at ₹ 2,638 crore.
“The officials concerned will discuss about the exact quantum of dues and rectify the minor changes. But, it is very important that the GoM recommends payment of these dues before the next meeting of the GST Council,” he said.
States would be forced to wait for three more months if a decision was not taken and dues were not released before October 5 meeting.
Responding positively to the request, Mr. Modi assured that necessary steps would be taken and a meeting of the GoM would be convened on October 1. The Centre was yet to release IGST dues to 16 States, including Telangana, amounting to ₹ 25,058 crore since 2018.
He suggested that the Centre could adjust the compensation fund pending recovery from 18 States through the compensation that would be paid to these States in the coming months.
Principal Finance Secretary K. Ramakrishna Rao, Commercial Taxes Commissioner Neetu Kumari Prasad and other senior officials participated in the video conference.
