The States ruled by Opposition parties, who were unhappy with the agenda of Friday’s meeting of the GST Council, will wait for the report of the proposed group of ministers on the issue of the demand for zero per cent taxation for equipment and medicines for management of Covid-19. The States have also told the GST panel they will not allow any more items to be added into the Centre’s ambit.
Talking to
He added that the States opposed the proposal for bringing ‘Extra Neutral Alcohol’ under the ambit of GST. “Most of the States made it clear that they are not ready to forego their revenues and not even one item would be passed on to Centre’s table. We also opposed a similar proposal to bring tax on natural gas under Centre’s control. There was a letter from Centre in these lines,” he said.
‘Snatch powers’
Balagopal, who was a member of the select committee of Rajya Sabha on GST Bill, said if the Centre continues to snatch powers of the States, the harmonious relationship between the States and the Centre could be harmed.
Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal said the decision to put on hold Covid relief showed the lack of compassion by the Union government. “GST compensation needs a primary maths teacher; Central government reduces proposed compensation by nearly 33 per cent amidst faking revenues,” he tweeted.