Kerala Finance Minister KN Balagopal on Friday urged the Centre to provide more fiscal powers to the states as well as increase the shareable proportion of the GST collections. Besides, he asked the central government to expedite approval for the semi-high-speed railway line or the Silverline project from Thiruvananthapuram to Kasargod. The project is mired in controversies.
Kerala Finance Minister K N Balagopal has sought systemic changes in the GST structure, saying every state and consumer has lost because of its basically flawed architecture that has also led to rampant revenue leakage for the states. The Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime came into force in July 2017. Even though the framework is focused on having a one-nation-one-tax model, quite a few items, including petroleum products and liquor are still out of the GST purview.
Thomas Isaac, Kerala finance minister, says the Leftist government in the state wants to develop an egalitarian society where there are no capitalists.
The GST, an indirect tax regime, is to be rolled out from April 2016.
Hit by the "bar bribe controversy", the Congress-led United Democratic Front government in Kerala on Sunday announced a vigilance probe into the allegation by bar owners that state Finance Minister and Kerala Congress (M) supremo K M Mani had demanded a hefty sum for favourable decisions.
Sitharaman exhorted the states to work together with the Centre, stating that while the Union government sets the direction of economic growth, it is for the states to ensure effective implementation on the ground.
The Rajya Sabha on Wednesday approved the biggest tax reform since Independence.
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