BENGALURU: The Leader of Opposition Siddaramaiah criticised the GST council for failing to take a decision on extending compensation to the states, against the loss of revenue, for five more years during the meeting at Chandigarh.
The GST came into effect on July 1, 2017 with the compensation period for five years which got over on June.30.“Karnataka alone will incur a loss of Rs 20,000 crore, and I urge for the extension of the compensation for another five years. The rate of growth of tax was at 14 per cent and now slipped to 6 per cent. The CM as the head of GST Group of Ministers (GoM) has not put forth the demand for the extension,” he alleged while speaking to reporters in New Delhi. The decision of the GST Council chairperson and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman is a threat to the autonomy of the states, he said, and asked why the corporate tax has been cut to 22 per cent.
‘Cong will get 130 seats’
Siddaramaiah claimed that the Congress will come to power on its own in 2023. “We expect to win 130 seats, as per the sample survey, but are aiming for 150. CM just cannot deny the sample survey based on the opinion of the people of the state,” he added.