
Raipur: Commercial Tax (GST) minister TS Singh Deo participated
in the pre-budget discussion with the finance ministers of various states and union
territories held under the chairmanship of the Union Finance Minister Nirmala
Sitharaman on Monday.
In this meeting organized through video
conferencing, Singh Deo made the central government aware of the demands and
suggestions of Chhattisgarh for the coming financial year. The commercial tax
minister represented the state at the meeting as chief minister and in-charge
minister of finance department Bhupesh Baghel was on his visit to Assam. Finance
secretary Alarmelmangai D was also present at the video conference.
During the meeting, the minister demanded to continue
the amount of GST compensation given by the Government of India in the Union
Budget for the upcoming financial year 2021-22 even after the year 2022, bringing
the headquarters of NMDC to Bastar, the convergence of state government’s ambitious
NGGB programme with central schemes and approval of ethanol production from
surplus paddy. He also demanded the central government to allow 60 lakh metric
tonnes of rice, increase the amount of social pension schemes, increase the
rate of mineral royalty and start an international cargo terminal in Raipur. He
also requested for the provision of central funds, the release of mineral
royalty and GST compensation for Bodhghat irrigation project costing more than
Rs 22,500 crore.
In the meeting, the health minister congratulated
the Central Government as well as the scientists, doctors, health workers and
all the frontline activists on the commencement of massive vaccination
programme to combat corona pandemic. He said that only with the good coordination
between state and central government, new heights of economic development can
be achieved.