States must be compensated for losses due to demonetisation: Manish Sisodia

Manish Sisodia said that due to demonetisation the growth of tax revenue under Value Added Tax (VAT) has shown a negative growth in December

New Delhi, Jan 4: Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Wednesday said that the central government must compensate the state governments for their revenue losses due to demonetisation.

Sisodia, who also holds the finance portfolio, raised this point in the pre-budget consultation meeting of state Finance Ministers with Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

He noted that due to demonetisation the growth of tax revenue under Value Added Tax (VAT) has shown a negative growth in December, 2016 as compared to December, 2015.

"It will not be possible to achieve the target of tax revenue in the current financial year and as a result all developmental works being implemented by the government may suffer due to lack of resources," he said.

Sisodia also said that the central government was giving only Rs 325 crore as a share of Central Taxes to Delhi which was stagnant from the last 15 years.

"Central government treated Delhi as a Union Territory for payment of share in central taxes and as a state when 100 per cent central funding of Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS) to Union Territory comes into the picture," he said.

IANS