Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray hit back saying it was necessary “for the people of the state to know the truth”.
“Maharashtra gets only 5.5% of central taxes (but) the state contributes 38.3% of direct taxes. Maharashtra contributes 15% of the entire country’s GST share,” the statement said.
“If direct tax and GST are combined, Maharashtra is the leader in paying taxes. Despite this, even today, the state is waiting to receive Rs 26,500 crore of its GST revenue (from the Centre).”
The CM accused the Center of not treating Maharashtra fairly. “During the Taukte cyclone, the Center helped Gujarat more than Maharashtra. When talking about cooperative federalism, it is expected that the Center treats all the states better,” Thackeray said.
He said that the central tax on petroleum products is still higher than the state taxes. Behind every liter of diesel, the central tax was ₹24.38, while the state tax was lower at ₹22.37. Similarly, in petrol, the central tax was ₹31.58 while the state tax was ₹32.55. “Therefore, it is far from the truth to say that petrol and diesel are expensive due to states (levies),” the CM said in his statement.
However, the MVA government is planning to reduce the state cess by at least ₹1 to ₹2 keeping in mind the upcoming municipal elections and because the issue of higher state taxes could be exploited by the BJP.
Thackeray’s West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee also said that non-BJP states like her are being treated step-motherly.
“It is unfortunate that I had to listen to PM Modi’s speech today during the review meeting of Kovid along with other Chief Ministers. It was his one-sided speech. We were not allowed to speak in the meeting. The PM directly blamed the states for the increase in the prices of petrol-diesel. The state should reduce taxes, he said. Telling the people of the country like this was a one-sided approach. The PM lauded the initiative of the five BJP-ruled states. But you give 50% more funds to these states,” Banerjee said while speaking to media persons in Kolkata on Wednesday.
He said, “Rs 97,000 crore is due from the Centre. The Center is not paying the amount and the PM is saying such things in his speech.”
Banerjee accused the Center of not allocating enough funds to the states. “The burden is on the state. Please don’t burden the state. From 2014 to 2021, how much revenue have you (Centre) earned from fuel prices? It is over ₹17.3 lakh crore. The Center has levied various cesses, including There is education, but state governments get nothing. The prices of petrol, diesel and LPG have increased in the last few months.”
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