Punjab CM writes to Amit Shah for interim compensation of Rs 3000 cr for April on account of COVID national disaster
Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Tuesday wrote a letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah demanding an interim compensation of Rs 3000 crore for the month of April on account of the COVID-19 national disaster. Also, the CM sought an immediate release of Rs 4400 crore of pending GST arrears.
In a letter to Amit Shah, Captain Amarinder Singh asked for expediting the release of the state’s GST arrears of Rs 4400 crore for the last four months, to help the state overcome its resource constraint. the Chief Minister said that the Government of India should compensate Punjab for its loss of revenue due to COVID-19.
While the Rs 3000 crore for April was an estimate, he said that “detailed assessment of loss and requirement of funds for relief and rehabilitation will be submitted in due course.” However, he asked the Government of India to provide interim assistance so that the fight against COVID-19 is not allowed to weaken in any way.
Punjab was facing huge stress on State exchequer on account of the required health and relief measures that are being continuously scaled up, he said. The state government had made a provision of revenue receipts of Rs. 3360 crore for the month of April 2020 in the State Budget 2020-21.
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These included: GST- Rs 1322 crore; VAT on Petroleum products - Rs. 465 crore; State Excise Revenue -Rs. 521 crore, Motor Vehicle Tax- Rs. 198 crore; Electricity Duty- Rs. 243 crore, Stamp duty- Rs.219 crore, and Non-tax revenue- Rs.392 crore.
-PTC News
