Chhattisgarh CM writes to Sitharaman seeking extension of GST compensation period

Raipur (Chhattisgarh) [India], November 13 : Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Friday wrote to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and urged the Centre to extend the compensation period of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) beyond 2022 by five years.
In the letter to Sitharaman, the Chhattisgarh Chief Minister also urged the union minister to sanction Rs 4,140 crore collected by the Centre as a penalty from coal miners who were allotted mines in the state.
The chief minister further appealed to the Centre to allow the manufacturing of ethanol from the surplus paddy procured from farmers in the state and also demanded the reduction in the cess on the fuel prices.
Meanwhile, in order to boost capital expenditure, seven states namely, Chhattisgarh, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya, Punjab, Rajasthan and Telangana have been granted permission by the Department of Expenditure on Friday to borrow an additional amount of Rs 16,691 crore.
According to the Ministry of Finance, these seven states have achieved the target set by the Ministry for the capital expenditure up to the second quarter of 2021-22. The additional open market borrowing permission issued is equivalent to 0.5 per cent of Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP). Additional financial resources thus made available will help the States in pushing their capital expenditure further.