The 2016 game-changing constitutional amendment to facilitate introduction of GST was described as a “grand-bargain”. The states agreed to “cede” their exclusive sovereignty to tax supply of goods inter alia in lieu of a constitutional assurance that the Union shall compensate them for five years “for loss of revenue arising on account of implementation” of GST. In hindsight, as the GST collections have revealed, this was not fear of the unknown. Indeed, majority of the states are availing of the compensation. There is a catch-though. The compensation is pegged based on FY 2015-16 collection and assures year-on-year 14 per cent
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