GOVT RELEASES ₹36,400 CR GST COMPENSATION TO THE STATES
nNEW DELHI: The central government on Thursday released ₹36,400 crore to states as their pending Goods and Services Tax (GST) compensation, said an official statement.
The payment is for the period of December 2019 to February 2020. The finance ministry also said in its statement that the fund was released in the context of the coronavirus pandemic where states need to make additional spending when their resources are adversely hit. Up to November, the administration had released ₹1,15,096 crore in GST compensation to states.
Union territories with legislatures also get the compensation. States have been urging the Centre to release full compensation due as the decline in economic activities have affected their revenue position. The government had last month announced that states will be allowed to raise up to 5% of their gross state domestic product.
The government nationalised the urban land business in 1957-58. DLF [at that time it was run by Chaudhary Raghvender Singh, father-in-law of KP Singh] went out of business. I was into manufacturing. I came into DLF when the company was completely closed, [the land] business was nationalised, there was no money, banks were forbidden to lend money and the sector was dominated by unauthorised players. So, how did I get involved?
I was not involved in DLF till 1973-74. I was running a company called Willard India, making batteries, and American Universal, making electrical motors. But it so happened that the company (DLF) closed its business in 1960 as Chaudhary Sahab was against any unauthorised development. There was an occasion to sell the shares of the company to another member of the family because DLF was a brand.
My wife and her sister were the shareholders of the company. There was no third shareholder. In the normal case, they would have signed anything their father would have sent. But something happened that day. These girls were known as DLF girls as it was a big brand. It came to their mind, ‘Oh god we are losing everything.’ That evening was the turning point. My sister-in-law said, ‘Bhai Sahab, hamari tabiyat nahi hai bechne ke liye. Sirf 25 lakh [rupees] ke liye. (We don’t feel like selling, just for ₹25 lakh). My wife said the same. Maine kaha ‘aapki tabiyat kya hai?’ [what do you feel like?] They said we must revive the company. I said I don’t know this
KP SINGH, Chairman Emeritus, DLF Ltd
Without land, you can’t develop a township. I had no money.
The company was bankrupt. Banks were not ready to finance, rather they were not allowed to finance.
How do I do it? When your back is against the wall, something comes up. God was kind, it guided me, let’s follow the route my late father-in-law had followed in the 50s. He had developed a good name and reputation with farmers. So I thought let me encash this reputation with farmers.
In Gurugram, there was not any land ceiling at that time although it was completely barren land. So it is where an entrepreneur’s vision comes and an entrepreneur’s ability to take risk comes in.
So, I went there and I said, okay, I will work very hard. I spent almost eight-nine years with villagers. I ate with them, sat with them in their huts, met them every day, drank more milk in my life than I ever did. I did everything honestly. I did it passionately. Not just for the sake of doing it. By the way, I still go there and meet them. I became one of them. When you become one of them, then they not only sold the land to you, but also become the lenders. Thus the entire financing of DLF took place by the same farmers. Buying land, some 5,000 acres, on credit is something unheard of anywhere in the world.
USAID (United States Agency for International Development) and Harvard teams came to India in the early 90s to do a study.
And they were stunned. They said ‘my God, how the same farmers you bought land from gave money and not a single litigation.’ That’s the history. I did all myself. No managers. I had
The Prime Minister is doing the right thing. He is now slowly bringing economic activities [back to normal] and encouraging every state to open up the economy... in the bargain, undoubtedly certain peaks will go up. But the economy has to be opened up, otherwise people will start facing trouble. When people don’t have money, that will... cause much more damage than Covid.
I was very happy to hear his speech [made at an industry association on Tuesday] .
He said growth will take place in India. And he will bring around major structural reforms. I appeal to the Prime Minister to understand that the biggest element missing in
India today is realisation of one factor — that the most important sector of the economy, after agriculture, is urbanisation of India. Urbanisation means real estate, construction, housing, roads. They form part of the infrastructure of urbanisation, which has been completely neglected.
Firstly, I’m not leaving DLF. I’ve become the chairman emeritus, which means I’m still involved, not actively, but I’m there. I also believe strongly that everybody should have hobbies. I’ve strong hobbies I’m addicted to playing golf. I love music and I travel a lot. I have my daughter Piya and son Rajiv to help and drive philanthropic activities. I believe that at 90 one should not be the executive chairman of a listed company.
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I was into manufacturing. I came into DLF when the company was completely closed, (the land) business was nationalised, there was no money, banks were forbidden to lend, and unauthorised players ruled.