BENGALURU: Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy on Thursday urged Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to extend the GST compensation period till 2025, as the revenue deficit against the projected revenue may continue even after 2022 which may affect allocation of funds for welfare schemes and infrastructure projects.
During his meeting with Jaitley in New Delhi, the CM informed him that during VAT regime, Karnataka used to register 10-12 per cent of average growth every year. But post-GST, the revenue deficit is found to be 20 per cent against the protected revenue.
According to a statement issued by the CMO, there is an improvement in GST collections in the state in 2018-19 compared to 2017-18, but the gap with projected revenue is substantial and may well continue beyond 2022.
The CM also met Union Minister of Coal and Railway Piyush Goyal and requested him to allot coal blocks for Thermal Power Stations in the state.
Natl project status for Upper Krishna sought
The state has requested the Centre to accord national project status to Upper Krishna Project as that will help expedite implementation of the irrigation project and ease financial burden on the state. The CM said he has appealed to the PM. “If the state government has to implement the project, it will take another 25 years as we need D65,000 crore for land acquisition. We have explained this to the PM.”