Telangana seeks payment of IGST dues of over 2,600 crore by October 5: T Harish Rao

Hyderabad: Finance Minister T Harish Rao has stated that the State government was galvanizing the support of all States in the fight for the release of pending IGST (Integrated Goods and Services Tax) dues from the Union government.

During a Group of Ministers meeting on IGST conducted by its convenor and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi, Harish Rao pitched for the release of long pending IGST amount to all States by October 5. In a strong support to Harish's argument, the GoM convenor called for another meeting on October 1 to finalise the strategy to get the dues early.

Participating in the meeting via video conference, the Finance Minister said that Centre owed Rs 2,641 crore IGST dues to Telangana which have been pending since 2018. He also pointed out that the Centre has shown in the official records the dues were Rs 2,638 crore. The State finance officials were analysing the accounts to find out the reason behind reducing IGST dues by Rs 3 crore to Telangana.

Harish insisted the GoM Convenor to mount pressure on the Centre for release of all IGST dues before the GST Council meeting headed by Union Finance Minister Niramala Sitaraman convened on October 5. All the Ministers in the GoM including Sushil Kumar Modi welcomed Harish demand and decided to hold another meeting on October 1 to chart out an action plan.

The Telangana Finance minister said that the States were facing acute financial crisis during the corona pandemic and the Centre should come forward and rescue the States by releasing all the dues. Harish also suggested the government to adjust the compensation fund from the recoveries and consolidated fund to avoid financial burden on the States in the crisis time. In all, Centre owes Rs 25,058 crore of IGST dues to 16 States, including Telangana.