Union Finance Secretary Ajay Bhushan Pandey has reportedly told the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance that the Union government is in “no position” to pay the state governments their agreed upon share of revenue from goods and services tax (GST). GST was introduced on the undertaking that states would be compensated for lost revenue, if any, by the Union. This undertaking embedded the assumption that revenue would grow 14 per cent year-on-year. The influence of the pandemic and the associated lockdown on overall government revenue has, however, led the Union finance ministry to reassess its position.
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