GST: 'Centre grants Rs 814 cr but reconciliation process still on'
Kolkata: The central government has granted Rs 814 crore to Bengal towards balance GST compensation for the period of April to June 2022.
State Finance minister Chandrima Bhattacharjee said that the ministry has communicated the release of Rs 814 crore, however, the reconciliation process is still going on. "There may be more pending dues," she added.
According to sources in the Finance ministry, Rs 17,000 crore to states towards balance GST compensation was released taking the total amount released this fiscal to over Rs 1.15 lakh crore.
"This is even though total cess collection till October is only Rs 72,147 crore and the balance of Rs 43,515 crore is being released by the Centre from its resources," the ministry said.
Interestingly, the release of GST compensation comes just two days after the central government sanctioned Rs 8,200 crore under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana(PMAY) — a rural housing scheme for Bengal under which allotment for 11.36 lakhs houses have been given. The amount released by the Centre is 60 per cent, the rest 40 per cent will be borne by the state for the construction of rural households.
The Ministry of Rural Development just a week back had accorded clearance for Rs 584.88 crore for the upgradation of rural roads in Bengal.
The clearance was received for Batch I, 2022-23 under Pradhan Mantri Gramin Sarak Yojana (PMGSY) in which 144 works can be executed for the upgradation of 857.25 km of rural roads.
The state's share in this will be to the tune of Rs 241.72 crore while the share of the Union ministry will be Rs 343.16 crore.
Meanwhile, state Panchayats and Rural Development (P&RD) minister Pradip Mazumder said that the state government will continue to urge the central government for the disbursal of funds for 100 days work in the state, with the latter recently releasing funds for rural households and road projects for Bengal.
"More than seven-and-half-months have elapsed but no funds under the 100 days work scheme have been received. We are keeping our fingers crossed," Mazumder said, adding that Rs 6750 crore as wages for 100 days workers are due.
