Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel has demanded the Central Government to provide Rs 2828 crore to Chhattisgarh soon as GST compensation for the current financial year. He has said in relation to the option of states borrowing for reduction in GST compensation that the states included in the GST Council were assured by the Central Government in 2017 that whatever reduction in revenue will be given to the states after the implementation of GST. The shortfall will be reimbursed by the year 2022. In such a situation, it will be more practical if the Central Government provides the funds to the states by taking loans themselves.
Chief Minister Baghel has written in a letter to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman that the revenue in the states generally increases every year. Whatever reduction in this protected revenue should be reimbursed by the central government. For this, instead of taking loans to state governments, the central government should take loans directly and make it available to the states. Loans are provided to the states from the Reserve Bank at different rates, in such a situation it would be more practical to provide loans to the states by the central government.
The Chief Minister has said in his letter that according to the constitutional provisions it is the responsibility of the Central Government to give the amount of GST. To compensate for the reduction in GST, the states will take loans where the debt burden will fall on the states. This will be a complex and uncertain process.
The Chief Minister said in the letter that although there is a provision to give GST compensation every two months, even after four months of the year 2020-21, 2828 crore has not been received by the State Government. This amount should be made available to Chhattisgarh without delay.
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