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“We want to be
compensated 100% for our losses in the process of introducing GST,” Maharashtra
finance minister Sunil Tatkare told DNA after the pre-budget meeting of state
ministers with Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday.
Asked how other states felt about the compensation package offered by the FM,
Tatkare said, “Most states are asking for 100% compensation.”
Last week, Mukherjee had offered a proposal to the states for absorbing 50% of
the losses likely to be incurred by them while shifting to the GST regime. If
the proposal is accepted, states would have to take a hit of roughly Rs 4,500
crore this financial year.
The FM urged the states to absorb 50% of the losses in view of the economic
slowdown. The Centre’s compensation to the states will be Rs 4,500-5,000 crore,
as per the proposal.
Although the government had set a deadline of April 1, 2010 for rolling out GST,
it is likely to be deferred by at least a year. The FM has also said that GST
should not be introduced in a hurry, but only after a consensus is reached with
the states.
Most states have also opposed the Centre’s proposal of withdrawing the economic
stimulus in the forthcoming Budget on the ground that the economy is yet to
revive completely after the slowdown.
Mukherjee’s meeting with the state ministers focused on issues that would have a
bearing on the General Budget.
“When the Budget 2009-10 was presented in July 2009, the Indian economy was
going through a very difficult phase due to the adverse impact of global
financial meltdown,” the FM said in his inaugural speech.
Source:
Daily News & Analysis, India, dated
14/01/2010
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