At 1 Yr of GST, Hawala Transactions Up: WB Finance Min Amit Mitra

In an interview with a news channel, Mitra said GST was a complete failure, and had increased the states’ burden.

West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra.

(Photo: IANS)

As the GST regime completes a year since its roll-out, West Bengal finance minister Amit Mitra, who also chairs the Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers on GST, lashed out at the implementation of the reform, calling a ‘horrible mess’.

In an interview with CNBC-TV18, Mitra alleged that the GST had facilitated the growth of hawala transactions.

Speaking to the channel’s Shereen Bhan, Mitra said the reform was a complete failure, and had effectively increased the burden of the states.

The original architecture has failed. My state’s revenue has not come back to normal, I am dependent on the Centre to give us compensation by constitutional guarantee. It is a pain, really, for the state finance ministers.

Here are the key takeaways from Mitra’s interview with CNBC-TV18:

In conclusion, Mitra states that three issues need to be addressed in priority to make GST a success in its second year.

• The system has to become a GST-based, auto-populated, auto system.
• Deepen work on other reforms related to GST.
• Revenue buoyancy, as far as states are concerned.