No GST dues of any state pending: Nirmala

The Centre on Tuesday said no GST dues of any state are pending before it and that some state governments have not submitted AG’s authenticated certificate for release of their share of funds. Responding to a question from Trinamool Congress member Saket Gokhale, who asked about the GST dues of states, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the narrative that GST dues are pending from the Centre is not correct and is a “misnomer “ as states have not submitted AG’s report. “It is important to understand that the AG’s (accountant general) certification is (mandatory)… If the certificate does not reach us, we cannot clear,” she said. “For 2022-23 no state, except for Karnataka, has given certificate as yet,” she said. The Centre has made some provisional payments to some states though they have not sent the AG’s report, said Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary. “Once AG’s report is received, they will receive final payment,” he added.