THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:Kerala will tweak its annual plan to cater to fresh requirements after the catastrophic flooding.Finance Minister Thomas Isaac told ‘Express’ that new infrastructure development projects would be included and some existing plans would be shelved for the time being.A high-level meeting will be held next week to discuss the new development plan.The minister said no decision has been taken on austerity measures so far.
“It is up to the government to decide that. But, I feel the need of the hour is constructive plans and not just superficial announcements. The task ahead is huge and costly,” he said.According to preliminary estimates, the state suffered damage worth Rs 20,000 crore in the floods.The minister’s words gain significance in the wake of calls on social media for austerity measures at the government level after the Chief Minister’s request to the people to donate a month’s salary for flood relief.
The government had earlier said that it would ask the GST Council to impose a 10 per cent cess on the state GST. Excise duty on liquor has already been hiked by 0.5 per cent to 3.5 per cent.Put together, the state government expects an additional Rs 750 crore of revenue a year.
SGST cess
The state government wants the GST Council to impose an additional 10 per cent cess on state GST. Under GST, SGST is the tax revenue for the state from intra-state supply of goods or services. The SGST revenue for the state in 2017-18 was Rs 5,399.11 crore. Until July in fiscal 2018-19, the SGST revenue has been Rs 658.46 crore.