Capt meets Jaitley over farm loan, CCL debt, GST
CHANDIGARH: Chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Thursday sought from the central government one-time settlement of the Rs 6,000-crore loans taken by Punjab’s farmers from government-owned and private banks. Such a settlement will benefit 4.5 lakh of the state’s beleaguered farmers, Amarinder told Union finance minister Arun Jaitely at a meeting in New Delhi. He sought the FM’s intervention to convert the loan into a term loan for the state by giving requisite directions to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
Of the total debt of small and marginal farmers waived by the state, Rs. 3,600 crore relates to loans from cooperatives, with the remaining Rs 6,000 crore coming from banks. These banks, said the CM, were giving “unethical” loans to the farmers, “pushing them into a vicious cycle of debt”.
‘RE-STUDY ₹31,000
CRORE CCL DEBT’ Amarinder also discussed with the finance minister the issue of settlement of Rs 31,000 crore of cash credit limit-related debt to ease the state’s financial burden. CCL is given by the Centre to the state to buy foodgrains, but there was a Rs 31,000-crore gap in the money lent and the grains procured, so the previous state government had got that converted into a loan for the state. The CM requested Jaitley to set up a committee on the issue that he had earlier taken up with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
FOR GST WAIVER Amarinder also urged the finance minister to waive Goods and Services Tax (GST) on langar and prasad given out at gurdwaras, temples and other places of worship. The finance minister directed his department’s officials to look into all issues.
MEETS GADKARI, SUGGESTS DELHI-KATRA EXPRESSWAY ROUTE Chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Thursday met Union minister of transport and highways Nitin Gadkari to discuss the proposed Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway and other pending projects in Punjab.
The discussion on the DelhiKatra highway, which was also attended by Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar and Jammu and Kashmir deputy CM Nirmal Singh, focused on road alignment and land acquisition costs for the project. Capt said the Centre should pay all the acquisition costs for the highways, because of the state's poor fiscal health. The CM was in favour of aligning the road via Pathankot into Amritsar to Tarn Taran to Moga to Barnala and Samana before moving into Haryana.
Gadkari suggested formation of a group of revenue secretaries from the three states as well as the central government to study and recommend the modalities of the acquisition process.