The Tamil Nadu government, which recently chose to borrow money under Option 1 of the two choices laid out by the Centre in lieu of the GST compensation dues, on Monday said it did so as it had no other option.
Speaking at the 42nd Goods and Services Tax Council meeting held through a video conference as a continuation of the meeting on October 5, Minister D. Jayakumar recalled the efforts the government had taken to insist the Centre to borrow money and give them to the States. He recalled the Chief Minister had written to the Prime Minister expressing this.
“Since Government of India appeared unwilling to borrow, we had no option but to choose from among the two options offered,” Mr. Jayakumar (specially deputed to look after GST issues by the State government) said.
A copy of his speech copy was released to the media.
The Tamil Nadu government was “conscious that reaching a common meeting ground is the need of the hour” in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and it was in that spirit that we had already in the previous meeting agreed to Option 1, he contended.
Early resolution
The Minister said he looked forward to an early resolution of the issue so that the States get the funds that they so urgently need for reviving the economy during the COVID-19 crisis.
“As you are aware as of end July, 2020, the total compensation still due to Tamil Nadu is ₹10,774.98 crore. I hope this amount will be released at the earliest,” he said.