Karnataka asks Centre to extend GST compensation period
Bengaluru, Mar 4: Chief Minister of Karnataka Basavaraj Bommai on Friday said the estimated revenue deficit of Rs 14,699 crore in 2022-23 can be minimised if the Centre agrees to the request of the State to extend the GST (goods and services tax) compensation for the next three years in view of losses incurred due to the impact of COVID-19.
After presenting the Rs 2,65,720-crore budget of the State for 2022-23, he told reporters that it was revenue surplus but due to COVID-19 it has become revenue-deficit. In view of the increased expenditure commitments with the available resources, a revenue deficit of Rs 14,699 crore is estimated in 2022-23 compared to Rs 15,134 crore in 2021-22, said the Chief Minister.
He said the government did not take the GST component into account this year.
Bommai said the State used to get a GST compensation of Rs 11,000 crore to 14,000 crore, which would stop from this year. The State would get a compensation of Rs 4,000 crore to Rs 5,000 crore till June but due to the constitutional amendment, payment of compensation, which was only for five years since 2017, would be stopped, he said.
"We have appealed to the Centre to continue it further for at least three years keeping into account the COVID-19 year. The Centre has time till June. If Centre agrees, we can minimise our revenue deficit," said the Chief Minister.
According to Bommai, the union government had permitted borrowing up to four per cent of GSDP for 2021-22. The State had budgeted a borrowing of Rs.67,100 crore in 2021-22.
However, the revenue increased and was expected to reach the budgetary targets."So, we have reduced the borrowing to Rs.63,100 crore for 2021-22 in the revised estimates," he said.
"We have budgeted total borrowings of Rs.72,000 crore for 2022-23," he said.
Bommai was confident of the State achieving the targeted excise revenue, GST revenue, non-tax revenue and stamp duty revenue for the current fiscal. However, meeting the estimated revenue from motor vehicles would not be possible as the vehicle production has come down, he added.
Speaking about infrastructure, he said the State would build infrastructure for waterways. "Besides ports, railways, airports and roads, we are for the first time focusing on waterways," he said.
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Padma awardees in Odisha to receive monthly honorarium of Rs 30,000
Bhubaneswar, Jan 16 (PTI): The Odisha government will provide a monthly honorarium of Rs 30,000 to each of the Padma awardees of the state from the current month.
The Odia Language Literature and Culture Department issued a notification to this effect on Thursday.
In view of their outstanding contribution to society in various fields, the state government has decided to provide an honorarium of Rs 30,000 to the Padma awardees, the notification said.
All the Padma awardees of the state, who are alive, will receive the honorarium through direct benefit transfer (DBT) mode from January 2025, it said.
The government has asked collectors and culture officers of all districts to submit details of the Padma award winners (who are alive) including the district collector's certificate, bank account details, IFSC code to the Directorate of Odia, Language, Literature and Culture as soon as possible.
In March last year, the previous BJD government had announced a monthly honorarium of Rs 25,000 for the Padma awardees from Odisha. However, it was not implemented yet, an official of the department said.
In November last year, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi had decided to provide Rs 30,000 to the Padma awardees of the state. Accordingly, the formal notification was published on Thursday, he said.
The Padma Award was introduced in 1954. The award is given to personalities for their outstanding contribution in the fields of arts, education, science, sports, social work, public service, medicine, literature, etc.
As per the Padma Awards website of the Ministry of Home Affairs, till now, the President has conferred Padma awards on 105 eminent personalities from Odisha, which includes 90 Padma Shri, 11 Padma Bhushan and four Padma Vibhushan.
