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Punjab’s GST kitty swells 24%
Excise collected rose 41%, Punjab finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema said while terming the new excise policy a success; addressing a press conference here, Cheema, who also holds the planning, excise and taxation portfolios, said that the actual receipt growth is close to the budget estimated growth of 27% in GST collections this year.
Punjab finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema on Monday informed that the state has registered a growth rate of at least 24% in GST collections and 41% in excise collections during the first four months of the financial year 2022-23, as compared to corresponding time of the previous fiscal (2021-22).
Addressing a press conference here, Cheema, who also holds the planning, excise and taxation portfolios, said that the actual receipt growth is close to the budget estimated growth of 27% in GST collections this year.
The state witnessed a growth percentage of 3.46% in April, 44.79% in May, 51.49% in June and 13.05% in July this year as compared to the corresponding months last fiscal, he said.
The minister added that the success of the new excise policy speaks for itself as the excise collections registered a growth of 41.23% with a total collection of ₹2,741.35 crore in the first four months of this year as compared to ₹1,941.05 crore for the same period last fiscal.
‘Negotiated with bank to reduce interest on loan taken by SAD-BJP regime’
Listing out the other achievements of the state government, Cheema said the loan taken over cash-credit limit (CCL) gap in 2017 by the then Shiromani Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party regime stood at ₹30,584 crore, for which the monthly installment, at an interest rate of 8.25%, comes to ₹270 crore.
“We negotiated with the bank consortium and the interest rate on this loan has been reset at 7.35% (effective from April 1, 2022). Loan which was to be paid till September 2034 will now be disposed of in October 2033 at the current pace,” informed the finance minister, adding that the total interest savings after renegotiation would be ₹3,094 crore to the state exchequer.
“Our government has also repaid its loans to put the state in the higher trajectory of growth,” informed the minister, adding that the state has made an additional payment of ₹2,266.94 crore while servicing debt worth ₹10,366.94 crore till July and availing a loan of ₹8,100 crore during the same period.
“This includes the payments paid to bailout institutions like Punjab State Agricultural Cooperative Bank (PSACB) and PUNSUP and making monthly payments for power subsidy as per schedule,” he added.
Replying to a query about GST compensation by the Centre, that ended this year, the state finance minister said Punjab and other states have requested Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman to extend the compensation for some more years as the fiscal health of some states is still not sound.
Principal secretary (finance) Ajoy Kumar Sinha and special secretary (expenditure) Mohammad Tayyab were also present.
