The Ministry of Finance today released an amount of ₹40,000 crore to the States and UTs with Legislature under the back-to-back loan facility to meet the shortfall in GST Compensation.  Earlier on 15th July, 2021 an amount of ₹75,000 crore was released to the States & UTs with legislature. With the current release, the total amount released in the current financial year as back to back loan in-lieu of GST compensation has reached to ₹1,15,000 crore. This release is in addition to normal GST compensation being released every 2 months out of actual cess collection.

Subsequent to the 43rd GST Council Meeting held on 28.05.2021, it has been decided by the Central Government that it would borrow ₹1.59 lakh crore in 2021-22 and release it to States and UTs with Legislature on a back-to-back basis to meet the resource gap due to the short release of Compensation on account of inadequate amount collected in the Compensation Fund. This amount is as per the principles adopted for a similar facility in FY 2020-21, where an amount of ₹1.10 lakh crore was released to States under a similar arrangement. GST Rates Reduced on Certain Medicines, Biodiesel, Nirmala Sitharaman Says 'Council Feels Not The Time to Bring Petrol, Diesel Under GST'; Check Revised Rates.

This amount of ₹1.59 lakh crore to be provided to States as back to back loan would be over and above the compensation in excess of ₹1 lakh crore (based on cess collection) that is estimated to be released to States/UTs with Legislature during the current financial year. The sum total of ₹2.59 lakh crore is expected to exceed the amount of GST compensation accruing in FY 2021-22.

All eligible States and UTs (with Legislature) have agreed to the arrangements of funding of the compensation shortfall under the back-to-back loan facility. For effective response and management of COVID-19 pandemic and a step-up in capital expenditure all States and UTs have a very important role to play. For assisting the States/UTs in their endeavour, Ministry of Finance has frontloaded the release of assistance under the back-to-back loan facility during FY 2021-22 of ₹1,15,000 crore (more than 72 percent of the total estimated shortfall for the entire year). The balance amount will be released in due course.

The release of ₹40,000 crore made today is funded from borrowings of GoI in 5-year securities, totalling ₹23,500 crores and  2-year securities for ₹16,500 crore issued in the current financial year, at a Weighted Average Yield of 5.69 and 4.16 percent per annum respectively.  No additional market borrowing by the Central Government is envisaged on account of this release.

State/ UTs wise amount released as “Back to Back Loan in lieu of GST Compensation Shortfall” on 07.10.2021

 (Rs. in Crore)

Sl. No. Name of the State/ UTs GST Compensation shortfall released
5 year tenor 2 year tenor Total
1. Andhra Pradesh  483.61  339.56 823.17
2. Assam  262.20 184.10 446.30
3. Bihar 1,007.42 707.34 1,714.76
4. Chhattisgarh  733.84 515.25 1249.09
5. Goa 125.19  87.90 213.09
6. Gujarat 1,927.34 1,353.24 3,280.58
7. Haryana 1,092.85 767.32 1,860.17
8. Himachal Pradesh  398.33  279.68 678.01
9. Jharkhand  367.14  257.78 624.92
10. Karnataka 2,676.56 1,879.28 4,555.84
11. Kerala 1,291.65  906.90 2,198.55
12. Madhya Pradesh 1,036.24 727.57 1,763.81
13. Maharashtra 2,037.01 1,430.24 3,467.25
14. Meghalaya 20.84 14.63 35.47
15. Odisha 950.37 667.28 1617.65
16. Punjab 1,793.14 1,259.01 3,052.15
17. Rajasthan 1,074.23 754.25 1,828.48
18. Tamil Nadu 1,196.46 840.07 2,036.53
19. Telangana  675.31  474.15 1149.46
20. Tripura 59.27  41.61 100.88
21. Uttar Pradesh  1,203.11  844.74 2,047.85
22. Uttarakhand 492.63 345.89 838.52
23. West Bengal 949.63 666.76 1616.39
24. UT of Delhi  915.34 642.69 1558.03
25. UT of Jammu & Kashmir 568.30 399.02 967.32
26. UT of Puducherry 161.99 113.74 275.73
  Total: 23,500.00 16,500.00 40,000.00

It is expected that this release will help the States/UTs in planning their public expenditure among other things, for improving, health infrastructure and taking up infrastructure projects.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 07, 2021 06:17 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).