India
oi-Deepika S
New Delhi, Sep 26: Finance ministry sources have countered CAG audit finding of central government wrongly retaining Rs 47,272 crore of GST compensation cess meant for states, saying temporary retention cannot be termed as diversion.
Days after the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) flagged that the Centre in the first two years of the GST implementation wrongly retained GST compensation cess that was meant to be used specifically to compensate states for loss of revenue, ministry sources said compensation due for the year 2017-18 and 2018-19 was fully paid to states.
Time taken in reconciliation of compensation receipts can”t be termed as diversion of GST cess fund when the dues to states were fully released by the central government, they said.
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