KCR flays Centre for double-talk

Hyderabad: Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao feels that the Union government has been making tall claims both inside and outside Parliament that there is no effect of economic slowdown on the economy, but the facts are quite different.

The Chief Minister who held a high-level meeting with Finance and Commercial Taxes department officials here on Saturday felt that the faulty polices of the Centre had led to the present difficult economic situation.

In the backdrop of this scenario, KCR wrote a letter to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman asking her to release the funds stipulated in the Central budget for the state and also disburse pending Rs 1,719 crore towards GST compensation.

The letter said that for the financial year 2019-20, the Centre had announced in the Budget that it will give Rs 19,719 crore to Telangana as tax sharing.

This is 6.2 per cent more than the allocations made in the 2018-19 budget of Rs 18,560 crore. However, in the last six months, the Centre gave only Rs 10,304 crore only as the tax share.

In the last financial year for the eight-month period, the Centre gave Rs 10,528 crore. In other words, compared to 2018-19 financial year, this financial year till date the Centre gave Rs 224 crore less.

KCR also pointed out that the Centre while implementing the GST Act had assured the states that it would compensate if the GST revenue is less than 14 per cent.

Due to the economic slowdown prevailing in the country, Telangana is not getting 14 per cent of GST collections. Moreover, the Centre has to give the state Rs 1,719 crore as GST compensation dues.

The Centre had also failed to give Rs 2,812 crore IGST (Integrated Good and Service Tax ) funds as part of the GST for the year 2017-18, the letter added.

The Chief Minister said that he would also meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi soon and apprise him of the difficulties being faced by the state due to delay in release of funds.

In view of the fall in revenues in the state and delay in the release of funds by the Centre, KCR instructed all the departments to cut their expenditure and observe fiscal discipline.

The CM has instructed Principal Secretary to Finance K Ramakrishna Rao to regulate release of funds for all the departments in tune with the decrease in funds from the Centre.

He also instructed the officials of the Finance department to prepare a detailed note on the state's financial situation and the funds, which are due from the Centre to be placed before the State Cabinet on December 11.

The CM also wanted the ministers and officials to follow fiscal discipline in tune with the existing economic situation in the state.