GST compensation of Rs 36,400 crore released by Centre to States

New Delhi, June 05: The Centre has released Rs 36,400 crore to the States as their pending Goods and Services Tax (GST) compensation.

In a statement, the Finance Ministry said that the fund was released in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic where States need to make additional spending when their resources are adversely hit. The payment is for the period of December 2019 to February 2020.

Up to November, the administration had released Rs 1,15,096 crore in GST compensation to the states.

The compensation has also been given to Union Territories with the legislature. States have been urging the Centre to release the full compensation due as there has been a decline in economic activity owing to the pandemic and subsequent lockdown. It may be recalled that the Centre had last month said that the States will be allowed to raise up to 5 per cent of their gross state domestic product.