HYDERABAD: Finance Minister T Harish Rao urged the Central government to immediately release its IGST dues to the States, now that the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has also found fault with its method of sharing IGST with the States.
Participating in the Group of Ministers (GoM) meeting via video conference from the MCR HRD Institute here on Thursday, Harish said that Telangana was yet to receive `2,638 crore as IGST from the Centre. He pointed out that the total IGST to be given to various States was `25,058 crore. “Even the CAG has said that depositing `25,058 crore in the Consolidated Fund of India is against the rules,” Harish said.
“Now that the CAG has found fault with the Centre’s attitude, the Central government must release the IGST funds to the States without any second thoughts,” he added.The State Finance Minister also said that despite the observations of the CAG in the previous years, the Centre had deposited `13,944 crore IGST funds in the Consolidated Fund of India in 2018-19 as well.
The issue of pending IGST must in the agenda of the GST Council meeting to be held on October 5, said Harish. The GoM convenor and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi agreed to the suggestions made by him. Sushil Modi directed the officials to prepare proposals recommending the Centre to release the IGST dues to the States.
GST collections improve
GST collections in the State in September, 2020, stood at `2,796 crore, as against `2,854 crore in September, 2019. When compared to the previous year, the GST collection in September this year witnessed a shortfall of two per cent, as per the figures released by the Centre.