Bills piling up as state awaits its share of taxes

Ruchika M. Khanna

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 24

Punjab has not yet received about Rs 2,000 crore as purchase tax and cess on the sale of wheat, even as the state is awaiting Rs 3,580 crore from the cash credit limit (CCL) of Rs 17,523 crore sanctioned by the RBI. This has put on hold not only the release of dearness allowance (DA) to its employees but also most of the payments from the treasury.

The fiscal distress made Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and Finance Minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa rush to Delhi earlier this week to seek the Prime Minister’s intervention for getting the pending payment of procured wheat released.

Sources said payments worth almost Rs 500 crore were pending for clearance with the treasury.

Officials in the Finance Department told The Tribune that the jump in the state’s own tax collection was the saving grace. “In both April and May, the VAT (value-added tax) collection rose by 10 per cent,” said a senior official, adding that this ensured that the government made most of its committed payments, including salaries.

Sources said around Rs70 crore were yet to be paid to the commission agents, while Rs 400-crore payments for transportation and labour charges were pending.