GST compensation: West Bengal says Centre owes it Rs 2,409 crore
The West Bengal government on Friday night (February 10) said the Centre owed it Rs 2,409.96 crore, responding to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s statement that the state had not sent GST compensation cess claim with accountant general (AG) certificate from 2017-18 to 2021-22.
Replying to assertions that West Bengal’s dues had been neglected, Sitharaman in Parliament said GST compensation to states was given when the audited figures were provided but West Bengal had not submitted those since 2017.
“The Union FM made a statement that West Bengal has not sent GST compensation cess claim with AG certificate since 2017-18 to 2021-22. The state government does not agree with the statement,” the West Bengal government said in a statement.
Also read: Centre should do away with GST if it can’t clear our dues: Bengal CM
“For West Bengal, so far, compensation has been paid on net basis for only two years 2017-18 and 2018-19. For the rest of the periods (FY 2019-20, FY 2020-21, FY 2021-22) and the period 01.04.2022 till 30.06.2022, compensation has been released based on gross revenue. If net revenue is considered, then GOI owes West Bengal Rs 2,409.96 crore for the rest,” it added.
The finance minister had in December said that GST claims of state governments would be cleared once she got relevant papers with a certificate from their respective AGs. “The respective AG has to provide a certificate that the particular state has to get this much of compensation,” she had said.
WB disputes expense for CRPF during elections
The West Bengal government rejected the finance minister’s claim that the state owes the Centre Rs 1,841 crore for the deployment of CRPF.
“The forces are deployed as per the instructions of the Election Commission of India. The consent of the State Government is not taken regarding the need for deployment of Central forces during these elections,” the statement said.
“Accordingly, the expenditure relating to deployment of CRPF personnel for election duty should be borne by Government of India and not by the States,” it added.
Responding to Sitharaman’s statement that a reconciliation report is awaited from the West Bengal government in respect of Gram Sadak Yojana, it said all information sought by the Ministry of Rural Development was sent.
“Information was sought through the mail and all have been sent to them. No further query has been raised till date by MoRD against this report,” the statement said.
(With Agency inputs)
