GST compensation: Rs 6,000 crore! Central Government releases 2nd tranche to 16 states, 3 UTs

In a major development, the Ministry of Finance, Government of India, under its “Special Window to States for meeting the GST Compensation Cess shortfall,” has confirmed that it will be releasing an amount of Rs 6000 crore as second tranche to 16 States and 3 Union Territories on Monday. 

This amount was raised at a weighted average yield of 4.42 per cent. This amount will be passed on to the States/UTs at the same interest rate, which is lower than the cost of borrowings for the States and UTs, thus benefitting them.  

Ministry of Finance has facilitated loans of Rs 12,000 crore till date under the Special Window to States/UTs.

21 States and 3 Union Territories till date, have opted for the Special Window under Option I. The loans raised by GoI are released on a back-to-back basis to States/UTs, in lieu of GST Compensation Cess releases.  The loans have been released to the following States and Union Territories - Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, UT of Delhi, UT of Jammu and Kashmir and UT of Puducherry.

GST collections October 2020

According to an official statement released on Sunday, the gross GST revenue collected in the month of October, 2020 was Rs 1,05,155 crore. Noteworthy, this is the first time in the current financial year that the gross GST collections has crossed the Rs 1-lakh-crore-mark.

Out of the total GST revenue collected, which CGST (Central GST) was Rs 19,193 crore, SGST (State GST) was Rs 25,411 crore and IGST (Integrated GST) was Rs 52,540 crore (including Rs 23,375 crore collected on import of goods) and cess was Rs 8,011crore (including Rs 932 crore collected on import of goods).

The total number of GSTR-3B Returns filed for the month of October upto was 80 lakh. The government has settled Rs 25,091 crore to CGST and Rs 19,427 crore to SGST from IGST as regular settlement.

The total revenue earned by Central Government and the State Governments after regular settlement in the month of October, 2020 was Rs 44,285 crore for CGST and Rs 44,839 crore for the SGST.

The revenues for the month are 10 per cent higher than the GST revenues in the same month last year, said a Finance Ministry statement.

During the month, revenues from import of goods were 9 per cent higher and the revenues from domestic transaction (including import of services) were 11 per cent higher than the revenues from these sources during the same month last year.

The statement said that the growth in GST revenue as compared to that in months of July, August and September, 2020 shows the trajectory of recovery of the economy and, correspondingly, of the revenues, it said.