GST shortfall: Now, Rajasthan accepts Centre's compensation proposal

Rajasthan on Thursday became the latest among the dissenting states and Union Territories (UTs) to accept the Centre’s proposal of borrowing Rs 1.1 trillion to make up for the shortfall in goods and services tax (GST) collection. This comes two days after Puducherry accepted the proposal and the Centre released the second tranche of payments. According to the calendar, the next tranche of borrowing is scheduled for Monday.

“Rajasthan has communicated its acceptance for Option 1 out of the two options suggested by the Ministry of Finance to meet the shortfall in revenue arising out of GST implementation,” the Ministry of Finance said in a release.

The Centre borrowed and transferred the second installment of Rs 6,000 crore to 16 states and three UTs under a special borrowing window on Monday. The loans raised by the Centre are released on a back-to-back basis in lieu of GST compensation cess releases.

With this, the Centre has also granted additional borrowing permission of Rs 5,462 crore (0.5% of the state’s GSDP) to Rajasthan.