GST compensation: West Bengal says Centre owes it over Rs 2,400 crore

The West Bengal government has said the Centre owes it Rs 2,409.96 crore as GST compensation, “disagreeing” with Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's statement about the state not submitting audited figures.

Replying to assertions that West Bengal's dues have been neglected, Sitharaman had said in Parliament on Friday that GST compensation to states is released when the audited figures are provided, but West Bengal has not submitted those since 2017.

"... The Union FM made a statement that West Bengal has not sent GST compensation cess claim with accountant general (AG) certificate since 2017-18 to 2021-22. The state government does not agree with the statement.

"For West Bengal, so far, compensation has been paid on net basis for only two years 2017-18 & 2018-19. For the rest of the periods… compensation has been released based on gross revenue. If net revenue is considered, then GOI owes West Bengal Rs 2,409.96 crore for the rest," it said in a statement late on Friday.

Sitharaman had in December, too, said that GST claims of state governments will be cleared once she gets relevant papers with a certificate from their respective AGs.

The West Bengal government also rejected the finance minister's assertion that the state owes the Centre Rs 1,841 crore for CRPF deployment.

"The forces are deployed as per the instructions of the Election Commission of India. The consent of the state governments is not taken regarding the need for deployment of Central forces during elections," the statement said.