Punjab, five other states urge Centre to release GST dues

Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, November 20

Finance ministers of five states—Punjab, Delhi, Kerala, West Bengal and Rajasthan—issued a joint statement on Wednesday on delay in releasing Goods and Services Tax dues that the central government had promised to pay in October.

The statement, released after a meeting of Empowered Committee of Finance Ministers held in Delhi, said the Centre has yet to release the dues, forcing the states to avail ways and means advances, and even go into overdrafts.

GST comprises nearly 60 per cent revenues of the state. Punjab Government maintains that the Centre owes it Rs 2,000 crore in dues.

“The current delay has shaken the confidence of the states who have so far supported GST in a spirit of rare bonhomie,” the statement says, urging the Union Finance Ministry to place this matter in the next meeting of GST council so a healthy mechanism could be evolved to provide compensation in future.