Govt scales down estimate of exporters' GST refund claims by Rs 10 bn

Earlier estimate was Rs 65 bn in July-Oct period; revised estimate till Dec is Rs 55 bn; exporters upset over at inconsistency in figures

The government has said the amount of money claimed by exporters as tax refunds under Goods and Service Tax, from the time the regime came into force in July 2017, till December of that year, is Rs 55 billion. This is a major comedown from the Rs 65 billion that the Finance Ministry had announced last year as refunds claimed till October.

Exporters continue to assert that thousands of millions worth of tax refunds are yet to be released by the authorities.

A written communication by the government on the subject, reviewed by Business Standard, mentioned that a