Basavaraj Bommai meets Nirmala Sitharaman, seeks release of 11,000 crore to Karnataka

Bengaluru: Home Minister and State representative of the GST Council Basavaraj Bommai on Friday met Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and sought release of Rs 11,000 crore due to the State pending for the 2020-21 financial year. Karnataka has so far received Rs 1,776 crore from the total pending dues in this fiscal.

In order to make up for the loss which arose due to the pandemic the Union Government has decided to borrow and pass it on as GST compensation to States.

Nirmala Sitharaman has assured Bommai that the compensation for States is being worked out.

Meanwhile, Perikal M Sundar, president, FKCCI, along with CA I S Prasad, senior vice president, FKCCI, B V Gopal Reddy, vice president, FKCCI and Prabhudev Aradhya, chairman, Banking and Finance Committee, met the Union Finance Minister and submitted a memorandum urging her to improve the MSME sector and bring reforms in the procedures in corporate affairs keeping in view the Covid impact.

They requested for deferment of application of norms of NPA for MSMEs for a few years and relaxation of CIBIL rating for MSMEs for a period of two years. The FKCCI also sought waiver of processing fees for fresh loans and enhancement of existing loans.

They also sought dispensing with additional collateral security while sanctioning loans, stimulus for garment industries, hotels, restaurants, hospitality, educational institutions, professional services, reduction in GST on daily essentials to check inflation, inclusion of petrol and diesel under GST, representation for FKCCI on State Level Bankers Committee (SLBC) and boards of major banks and PSUs.