No State, including West Bengal, will lose a single penny after the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, said here on Wednesday.
According to him, the Centre is giving the first instalment of its CST (Central sales tax) compensation soon and the balance will be cleared in due course.
“I have assured the states that they will not lose a single penny post the implementation of GST. In fact, revenues (in West Bengal) in the first year post implementation of GST, is set to go up,” he said during his address at the Bengal Global Business Summit.
Citing loss of revenue, West Bengal is amongst the few states that have raised objections to the implementation of GST.
According to Jaitley, the State will also gain substantially after coal block auctions. Coal-producing states will be given a substantial share of the auction.
“There may be political differences between parties. But, India is a strong federation of States,” he added.
History of entrepreneurship Jaitley said that West Bengal had a long legacy of industry, and said that the Centre is ready to help the State draw investments. However, many industrial units have shipped out. “Now our challenge is to re-industrialise the State,” he said.
Jaitley maintained that it was the manufacturing sector that can create jobs and those under-employed in the agriculture sector can be moved to manufacturing. Commenting on State Finance Minister Amit Mitra’s statement that industry in West Bengal had grown higher than that of the country, Jaitley said, “Share of manufacturing in West Bengal is on a narrow base.”
He also said that economic development of the country and the states go hand-in-hand; and each State is trying to create an industry-friendly environment leading to competitive federalism. He said, investors have the choice of narrowing down on any State in an era of “competitive federalism” and stressed on the need to cut down on red-tapes and focus on the ease of doing business.
NITI Ayog According to the Union Finance Minister, the new NITI Aayog — that replaced the 65-year-old Planning Commission — will help states to be financially stronger. The Planning Commission was more suited for a command-based economic structure; where it was assumed that one size would fit all.
“Today a particular scheme can be relevant for one State but not suitable for another. In the process, the states will be more financially empowered and get more central funding,” the Minister added.