Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Wednesday that the economy was on the path to recovery, going by the feedback she received from the States about the positivity in some high-frequency indicators and from industrialists who told her they had almost reached the pre-COVID capacity utilisation levels.
Addressing the media here, she said the GST Council had decided that the compensation cess collection could go beyond the five years transition period originally proposed.
Revenue deficit grant
On the Andhra Pradesh government’s demand for revenue deficit grant, she said it had to be discussed as it was a matter in the purview of the 14th Finance Commission whose term had expired.
“The Ministry of Finance has to work on it, considering that the amount being claimed by the State is based on the recommendation of the 14th Finance Commission. The 15th Finance Commission has already submitted its first year’s report and it is under implementation,” Ms. Sitharaman observed while addressing the media here.
She avoided a firm reply to a question on the demand for Special Category Status (SCS), saying she would answer if she had one.
On the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation), Farmers’ (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services and Essential Commodities (Amendment) Acts, 2020, she said farmers were happy that certain taxes that cut into their meagre returns were eliminated and inter-State trade was made hassle-free.
Criticises Opposition
The Centre did not meddle with the Agricultural Produce Market Committees, which were the domain of the States, and it was not going about contact farming in a roughshod manner lest the relevant laws should become counterproductive.
The Opposition parties, she said, were doing politics as usual after wasting an opportunity to engage with the government in a meaningful debate in Parliament.