Disclose IGST claims, GST compensation details in Kerala: MP NK Premachandran

T'PURAM: MP NK Premachandran demanded state finance minister KN Balagopal to make public the details of IGST claims received by the state over the years and the AG audited reports which Kerala claims to have furnished on time for claiming GST compensation.
On Tuesday, Premachandran said Balagopal was trying to run a false campaign against him by incorrectly claiming that Premachandran had raised a question over GST compensation dues in Lok Sabha, a non-issue for Kerala.

"My question to the Union finance minister was about the interstate tax share due to Kerala, not GST compensation as claimed by Balagopal," he said.
The MP said his question stemmed from media reports on expenditure committee report that Kerala loses its IGST claims amounting to around Rs 5,000 crore/year.
Way back in 2021, the state's own institution, GIFT, also found out that Centre was showing partiality in disbursing IGST share among states, he added.
Premachandran said the state finance minister's claim that there was no dispute between Centre and state over GST compensation was contradictory to the claims made by CM Pinarayi Vijayan and KN Balagopal for introducing a cess of Rs 2/litre of diesel and petrol.
"If the state has already submitted AG's certification to the Centre, Balagopal should show the proof. If Rs 750 crore is due, as claimed by Balagopal, the government should claim the same from the Centre and lift the fuel cess," said Premachandran.
Meanwhile, CPM state secretariat issued a statement on Tuesday saying that the Union finance minister was trying to justify the anti-Kerala policies of the Centre.
"The minister is trying to hoodwink the public by making statements contrary to the truth. Kerala submits all mandatory documents in connection with GST. The exchange of letters between Centre and state government corroborates this," it claimed, adding that the attempts to blame the state government should be exposed as central agencies carry out all auditing in this matter.