KOLKATA: West Bengal Finance Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya on Monday said she will be representing the state at the crucial two-day GST Council meeting in Chandigarh.
The Council in its meeting starting Tuesday is slated to discuss an array of issues, including a mechanism for compensating states for revenue loss, tax rate tweaks on some items and relaxed registration norms for small online suppliers. "I have arrived for the meet along with other officials, including Additional Chief Secretary Manoj Pant," Bhattacharya, the MoS (Independent Charge)Finance, told PTI over phone.
The meeting will be chaired by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and comprise state counterparts.
The Council may see a stormy discussion around compensation payout to states, with opposition-ruled states aggressively pushing for its continuation beyond the five-year period, which ends in June Earlier this month, former West Bengal finance minister Amit Mitra had written to Sitharaman, urging her to continue with the GST compensation to states for another three-five years.
Mitra said the extension of the compensatory arrangement will provide a big relief to the states. "We note with dismay and ominous signs that the Centre has decided to withdraw the goods and services tax (GST) compensation to the states from July 2022. Such a decision, if taken, is completely contrary to what was envisaged at the time of adoption of GST," Mitra had said in his two-page letter.