The State will receive an additional income of Rs.3,000 crore once the GST regime is implemented, Finance Minister T.M. Thomas Isaac has said.
Participating in the question hour in the Assembly on Thursday, Dr. Isaac said the State would receive revenue from malls, super markets, and online traders. During the first year, the State would not wait for Central compensation but would levy taxes directly.
If petroleum products were brought under the GST, the cess and additional cess now levied by the State would not be permissible. This would effect a 15 % reduction in the investments under the KIIFB. The government wanted petroleum products, which would allow the Centre to directly collect Rs.2.5 lakh crore and the State Rs.2 lakh crore, not to be brought under the ambit of the GST. The State earned Rs.14,000 crore from petroleum cess, he said.
The government would institute an NRI chit fund in collaboration with the KSFE, Mr. Issac told Manjalamuzhy Ali. The downturn in the economy and demonetisation had negatively impacted tax collection, Mr. Isaac told Mr. C. Divakaran. In order to tackle currency note scarcity, the Bevco deposited Rs.74.12 crore, the KSFE, Rs.339.66 crore and the lottery department, Rs.101.80 crore in the treasury till April 28.
Under the participatory pension programme, Rs.431.33 crore had been deposited as government’s share and employees’ share.
Electricity Minister M.M. Mani told the Assembly that the State would achieve total electrification by the end of May. The State government would formulate a project for making solar energy generation more people-friendly.
In addition to the Central subsidy, the State had also announced a subsidy of Rs.10,000 per KW of solar energy. A project would be implemented via the KSEB to make solar energy more popular. High tension and extra high tension consumers owed the KSEB Rs.1361.69 crore.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan told the Assembly that 283 cases of cyber crimes had been registered after the LDF government assumed office. Of this, 202 cases were still being investigated. As many as 58 cases of online fraud had been registered. So far, 39 cases of harassment of women had been registered where policemen were the accused. Sixty-seven cases of harassment at workplace had been reported.
