GST dues of states not cleared as claimed by FM: Chidambaram

Former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram has alleged that GST dues of states are not cleared as claimed by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. India's gross GST revenue collection reached a new record high of over Rs 1.41 lakh crore in April 2021.

New Delhi: Former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram has alleged that contrary to the claims of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, GST dues of Congress-ruled states Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh are yet to be cleared. "More numbers on GST dues. For Rajasthan, the GST dues upto 31-3-2021 were Rs 4,635 crore. This number was mentioned in CM's letter to FM. In 2021-22, add another Rs 2,507 crore upto May. Total dues, so far, are Rs 7,142 crore

"For Chhattisgarh, GST dues upto 1-6-2021 are Rs 3,069 crore. Yet, the FM claimed that she had cleared GST dues to all states!" the former union minister said in a statement on Wednesday. GST collection for the month of May stood at Rs 1,02,709 crore, as per the Ministry of Finance, its eighth month in a row when GST revenue has stayed above the Rs 1 lakh crore mark.

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India's gross GST revenue collection reached a new record high of over Rs 1.41 lakh crore in April 2021, beating all expectations of lower collections in wake of disruptions clauses by fresh wave of Covid-19. Accordingly, the GST revenues during April 2021 were the highest since the introduction of the tax. The same feat was achieved even in March when collections at over Rs 1.23 lakh crore was the highest since the introduction of GST in 2017.

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IANS