CM Uddhav accuses Centre of not releasing GST dues, alleges impact on schemes

In an exclusive interview to Sena mouthpiece Saamana, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray revealed that GST dues worth thousands of crores from the Centre were pending. While admitting that the State received Rs.4,000-4,500 crore after he wrote a letter to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, he mentioned that a lot more amount was expected. Thereafter, he challenged the opposition to protest against the Centre in this regard. Moreover, he alleged that this was causing a hindrance in the implementation of welfare schemes. Thackeray reckoned that the money received on time could be given to the farmers.  

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Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray remarked, “It is true that the Centre has not helped as expected. Regarding GST, I had written a letter in December last year that nearly Rs.15,000 crore dues were pending with the Centre. After I wrote the letter, the state received Rs.4000-4,500 crore. This is pertaining to December and January. Now, the dues must have increased further. Will the opposition party carry out a protest rally for this?” 

He added, “The people should come to know that the Centre is doing. While I am not saying that the Centre is doing this deliberately, it is true that there is a shortfall in the dues from the Centre. It is impacting the implementation of our schemes.  If the state government receives the pending dues from the Centre on time, we will be able to give farmers more money.”  

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Protests in the Parliament

Uddhav Thackeray wrote to Sitharaman in December requesting her to release the pending dues of the state to the tune of Rs.15,558.05 crore. He claimed that Maharashtra had received less than the budgetary amount mandated as tax devolution. Moreover, Thackeray observed that an amount of Rs. 8611.76 crore was due as GST compensation. Hinting at the financial stress on the State coffers, the Maharashtra CM asked her to expedite the transfer of the state’s legitimate share of funds which would help to sustain the developmental programmes of the state. Several opposition parties such as the Shiv Sena, Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and the Trinamool Congress (TMC) raised their pitch in the Monsoon session of the Parliament demanding the Centre to release the GST dues to their respective States. 

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