PUNJAB CABINET FLAGS FISCAL CRISIS

If state’s share delayed further, it’ll be tough to pay staff salaries: FM

CHANDIGARH: Taking a note of the worsening fiscal position of the state, the Punjab cabinet on Wednesday urged chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh to take up with the Centre the issue of pending GST payments, delay in which was causing immense financial stress.

The CM, who chaired the cabinet meeting, said he will write to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union finance minister Arun Jaitley in this regard and seek immediate release of ₹1,464 crore pending GST compensation besides the state’s share of ₹2,000 crore from the Integrated Goods Service Tax (IGST) collected by the Centre for interstate businesses.

Punjab finance minister Manpreet Badal informed the cabinet about the deteriorating fiscal position of the state and raised apprehension that if the Centre delays the payment of the state’s GST share further, it would get tough to pay even the routine salaries of government employees, sources said.

The cabinet endorsed Manpreet’s concern over the delay in payment of salaries to employees and the state’s inability to meet critical expenses in the absence of timely payments of GST and IGST share.

Manpreet informed the cabinet that the state had yet to receive ₹524 crore against GST for July-August 2017 and ₹960 crore for September-October. Also, it was pointed out that the entire IGST amount was being collected by the central government under the new tax regime and a total of ₹98,000 crore had accumulated on this count till October.

“The central government is yet to release a total of ₹3,600 crore to Punjab on account of GST and IGST. The cabinet strongly criticised the delay,” the finance minister told the media after the meeting.

The Centre is yet to release a total of ₹3,600 crore to Punjab on account of GST and IGST. MANPREET BADAL, finance minister