Telangana Finance Minister T Harish Rao has demanded the immediate release of the pending Integrated Goods and Services Tax (IGST) amount from the Centre, which amounts to Rs 2,461 crore.
Harish Rao was participating in the Group of Ministers (G0M) meeting presided over by Sushi Kumar Modi, GST Council Convenor and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister, via video conference on IGST settlement on Tuesday.
The minister said this money is necessary for the state to continue its fight against COVID-19.
He asked the Union government to release the funds before the next GST council meeting, which is scheduled to be held on October 5. He added that if it doesn’t go through, then the state has to wait for another three months for the release of the IGST funds, according to a Telangana Today report.
Harish Rao said that several states are already reeling under additional financial problems which were triggered by the COVID-19 situation and release of these pending GST dues would help the states in dealing with the situation.
It was mentioned that along with Telangana, there are 16 other states which were supposed to get their IGST payments, which comes to a total of Rs 25,058 crore.
Meanwhile, Harish Rao also pointed to a discrepancy in the Union government calculation that the state has to receive IGST amount of Rs 2,638, whereas the amount should be Rs 2,641 crore, which is a difference of Rs 3 crore, according to a Deccan Chronicle report.
Pointing to the error, Harish Rao said that Telangana is 'not bothered' about the small missing amount, however added that the Centre should ensure that the states are getting their full amounts before the next IGST session begins.
According to media reports, Sushil Kumar Modi has responded positively and assured Rao that the group would meet again on October 1, in advance of the Council meeting.