Narayanasamy to attend meet on GST Bill on July 26

Puducherry Chief Minister V.Narayanasamy today said he would participate in the State Finance Ministers' conference to discuss the GST (Goods and Services Tax) Act in New Delhi, scheduled for July 26.

Talking to reporters here, Narayanasamy, also holding the portfolio of Finance, said he had received an invite from the Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley for the meeting.

"I will place before the meeting our case of fiscal protection. In case any of the provisions of the Bill is found to be disadvantageous to the Union Territory of Puducherry I will urge the Centre to compensate Puducherry adequately," he said.
 

Narayanasamy, who recently held discussions with the Prime Minister and some Central Ministers in Delhi, said he had made out a strong case for allocation of Rs 100 crore for various tourism development projects during his discussion with Union Tourism and Culture Minister.

"I have requested Arun Jaitley to write off the loans totalling Rs 2177 crore due from Puducherry to the Centre over the years and also wanted refund of Rs 1300 crore paid as interest so far," he said.

He said the Centre appeared to be positively inclined to assist Puducherry on various counts.

He also said he had sought sanction of an Indian Institute of Management for Puducherry during his talks with the HRD Minister Prakash Javedkar.

Puducherry Port would be utilised by collaborative initiatives of Chennai Port Trust and Puducherry government to handle cargo transactions through a MoU which would be signed in the presence of Union Shipping Minister Pon Radhakrishnan here on July 30.

Narayanasamy took strong exception to the comments made against BSP leader Mayawati and urged senior leaders of the BJP to advise those in the second ranks to conduct themselves properly. He also criticised those who had attacked some Dalit youths in Gujarat.